


How Do You Define Family?

by Lidhogg



Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Adoption, Bigotry & Prejudice, Disabled Character, Family, Feral, Fluff and Angst, Fox - Freeform, Gen, Interspecies Relationship(s), Interspecies Romance, M/M, Slice of Life, Slow Burn, bunny - Freeform, hyena, savage - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-15
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:27:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 58,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24726727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lidhogg/pseuds/Lidhogg
Summary: It is a story about a bunny who had a perfect plan for his life. He knew what he wanted and who he was. However life had different plans for him. He ended up taking care of a handicaped fox kit while learning more about himself and the world around him during a savage crisis.
Relationships: Original Male Character/Original Male Character
Comments: 175
Kudos: 89





	1. A bunny with a plan

**Author's Note:**

> It is my first story and I hope that you will enjoy it. English is not my native language so sorry for any mistakes. The story starts while Judy is still at ZPA

Matt was typing with a smile on his face as his colleagues were chatting around him. The 28 year old bunny was working as a programmer at a small company. He had a rather common brown shade of the fur with lighter cream color on the chest and belly and was wearing blue jeans with black shirt. Lunch break was coming up and he was glancing at his phone. Everytime he did that his brown eyes shined. His good mood and it was rather infectious.

They worked in an open space. Desks were placed next to each other in rows for optimal use of the space. Mammals were used to other mammals moving around them and learned to ignore it. Bunny was already imagining what kind of reaction he will get when he will announce the news. It was the main reason why he did not notice a spotted hyena approaching him from behind.

“Did you have time to look at my code?” The hyena asked. 

Matt instinctively turned towards the source of the voice and the first thing that he saw were sharp claws in front of his eyes and then a massive figure was looming over him. Matt squeaked and jumped in his chair. His long ears were pointed towards the hyena, ready to react to any sound of danger. His nose was twitching like crazy but with few breaths he seemed to calm down.

“Sorry for that.” Matt smiled and rubbed back of his as he was avoiding the hyena’s eyes. “Yes, I did.” 

The bunny turned towards the computer and opened the window with hyena’s code. “Quality of your code is great but you’ll have to change your sorting algorithm. It isn’t fast enough. This is going to be the main part of our program so every microsecond that we can get counts.” 

He turned towards the hyena and this time looked him in the eyes. Matt had to look up and doing it while sitting was rather uncomfortable. 

“It’s going to be executed a lot of times so it adds up over time.” The bunny smiled nervously. “In general users prefer it when programs work fast.”

The hyena nodded. “I’ll fix that after lunch. It should be finished before the end of the day.” 

Matt’s smile warmed up. “That’s great! That way we’ll still be able to deliver on time.” 

The bunny looked at his phone to check the time. 

“It’s already time for a break. Would you like to join us?” He offered but the hyena shook his head. 

“No, I’m fine, thanks.” The hyena smiled but it didn’t seem to reach his gray eyes.

Matt watched as the spotted hyena went towards the kitchen. The bunny was still getting used to the medium sized carnivore. Liam started working 3 weeks ago. He was wearing blue jeans and white shirt, looking professional. It was a rather unusual sight. Programming companies prefer small herbivores as employees. The reasoning was rather simple. You could put more desks for smaller species in the same office space. Since prey outnumbered predators 10 to 1, most office spaces were filled with small herbivores.

He rubbed his hand nervously contemplating if he should follow Liam and apologize again. His mind quickly went back to the news that he had for his friends as he saw them approaching. Emma was a sheep with whom he went to the university. They have been good friends while they were getting their degrees and ended up at the same company. They met Tom and Owen after they joined. Tom was a hare and Owen was a gopher. Guys were both a little older than them.

They were sitting in a kitchen area with their salads. It was a room with a communal fridge, microwave and tables for mammals to sit. Matt was clenching his phone and was grinning at them. Tom sighed. 

“Ok so what do you want to show…” He was interrupted by Matt who placed a phone on the table with a picture opened. 

“I got certified!” On the phone there was Matt's selfie as he was holding a piece of paper. Matt’s expression changed from happy to confused as both guys groaned and Emma lifted her clenched fists in triumph. 

“Pay up.” She extended her hand towards them with a smug look on her face.Matt blinked a few times before he realized what happened. 

“You were betting if I would get certified as a foster parent?” Matt’s ears went down and bit his lower lip, showing his buck teeth. Guys avoided his gaze as they were paying up. 

“To our defence you don't seem like a dad type and even Emma was shocked when she heard that you want to be certified foster parent. She knows you the longest.” The hare looked Matt in the eyes with an apologetic smile.

“I’ve babysat your kits many times and you always said that I was great at it.” Matt’s voice cracked. 

“You even said that my flat in the meadowlands was perfect for raising kits.” He was counting on his fingers. “It’s in a green area with a lot of parks around. Building has its own playground. There’re a lot of good schools and kindergartens nearby. It’s close to my work and the apartment itself is nicely baby proofed.”

This time it was Tom who was blinking confused. “But you got that apartment right after you graduated and started working here. As soon as you were eligible for a loan. I thought that you just wanted to avoid bunny tax and were just too lazy to take off all the baby proofing.”

Emma was giggling as everything unfolded. 

“Bunny tax? I haven’t heard about that.” Owen looked from the bunny to the hare. 

“Landlords don’t like to rent apartments to rabbits and hares. They assume that they’ll have to deal with a large family and that could easily damage the apartment. So it’s common to bump up a rent price for us. Often it’s just cheaper to get a loan and buy an apartment.” Tom explained as he had to deal with the same issue. 

“Oh.” Said Owen with sad eyes not really sure what to say.

Emma stopped giggling as an awkward tension rose at their table. It was supposed to be a happy occasion so she took it upon herself to move it back into that direction. 

“Sorry guys but he showed me his road map for adoption when we were at the university. So I had insider knowledge. I should have a picture of it on my phone.” She looked through the phone.

“What!?” All three of them exclaimed for a different reason. Tom’s and Owen’s eyes went wide as Matt’s ears were getting red. 

“I’ve found it!” She said and placed the phone on the table. “I was shocked because he skipped on step and tried to get certification two years ahead of schedule.” 

Guys went to examine the roadmap. 

“That is rather impressive” Said Owen “ So you really got that apartment already thinking about adopting.”

Inside of Matt’s ears were red at that point. “Yeah. I made that plan to increase my odds of getting kits.” 

Emma smiled hearing Matt mentioning odds. Tom and Owen exhaled breaths that they were holding. 

“It’s like scoring points. Mammals with bigger scores have priority when adopting.” Matt’s ears went up as he was talking about numbers. 

“But they don’t tell you about that. I had to check different studies to see what was the wait time for adoption based on the type of mammal they were, what child they were looking for, their financial situation, family life and other factors. So that was the best that I could come up with.” Matt said with excitement in his eyes.

Emma laughed. 

“So you can see why I was shocked that his plan changed after so much research.” She was eating her salad enjoying listening to that analytical side of Matt. It was one of the reasons why he was so good at programming. He just enjoyed doing research and doing things that would ensure his success. “You still did not explain why you skipped ‘getting a new house’ and got certified 2 years ahead of schedule.”

Matt’s eyes shined. “They changed the law. The minimum number of bunnies that I need to adopt is two, not three. And my apartment is good enough to support 2 kits. I wasn’t able to get a big enough loan to get an apartment suitable for 3 kits. That is why that step was in there. However just in case I got the apartment that was good enough for two kits.” 

Everyone nodded. Bunnies were a family oriented species so kits that were only child did not perform that well compared to ones that had littermates.

Owen looked confused as he was reading the roadmap. “Why is ‘getting a mate’ not one of the steps?” 

Matt lowered his ears and sighed. “Because it decreases my odds. I’m more likely to get kits if I’m a signle parent that one in homosexual relationship.” 

There was an uncomfortable silence at the table.

“Look at the bright side. You’ll be able to start dating after you get your kits.” Emma tried to cheer him up. Matt laughed. 

“I’ll see if I’ll have time for that. Most likely I’ll still have to change my apartment. It’s bad for kits’ health to split the litter. So you have to adopt them as a package. Litters with only 2 kits are very rare so I don’t expect that to happen. With a bigger apartment I could adopt 3-4 kits and litters of that size are much easier to find.” Matt took a bite of his salad. ”I did it because there is a small chance of success.”

“Well on the other hand you can adopt a child that does fine as an only child.” Suggested Owen but Matt waved his hand dismissively. 

“Nah, it isn’t for me. I have always imagined myself with bunny kits and a nice buck at my side. Also I’m going to be a single parent for some time so it’s better for me and kits to be familiar with the species”

At the nearby table a gray rabbit was agitated. She was looking with a furrowed brow at Matt and his friends. 

“I hate guys like that.” She finally said to her companion. 

“What do you mean by that? I can not read your mind, Sara.” Said Liam as he ate his fried crickets. 

He was a little annoyed by the doe. She insisted on having lunch with him ever since he joined. Most of the time he didn’t mind her company. It was refreshing to have someone around that wasn’t afraid of him, even if she was a little forceful about becoming his friend.

“Speciests like that.” She said angrily while thumping her foot on the floor. “It takes months of training, background checks and getting recommendations from multiple people. After all of that he only wants to foster bunny kits. He’s willing to wait years for bunny kits when he could foster many kids in that time.” 

Liam sighed and put his crickets down. He hated when she was in a mood like that. 

“That doesn’t mean that he is speciest. I don’t think that he wants to be a foster parent. From what he said it seems that he wants to adopt and I heard that the foster-to-adoption process is way quicker than regular adoption and it’s easier to get kits.” He looked at Matt. “ Also his reason is good. He’s preparing himself to be a single parent so same species kits would be much easier.”

“It isn’t about what is easy but about what is right. There are so many children in need of a home.” She was explaining as if it was an obvious thing. 

“Well you can always adopt one.” He said back with the same tone but she quickly dismissed it. 

“I don't have the means to support a family. He has and should do something about it. He’s just speciest.” She looked at Liam. “He flinches everytime that you approach him and he dismisses every idea that you have. He doesn’t treat other members of his team like that.” 

She said with a satisfied smile on her face as she proved her point.Liam clenched his fist around the fork that he was holding and avoided bunny’s gaze. 

“I’ve been working here for 3 weeks. He is getting used to me and I am getting used to how things work around here. He interviewed me for the job. I wouldn’t get in if he was a speciest.” He said all of that but his voice lacked his regular confidence.

“That’s easy. He was forced to hire you because of the Mammal Inclusion Initiative.” She said and smiled at him softly showing that she was there for him. Liam gently scratched the table with one of his claws. 

“You shouldn't let him treat you like that. You should report him.” Another claw was added to the scratching. Vibration from his claws skipping over the uneven surface of the table was relaxing him. 

“I’ll think about it.” He continued eating his crickets, not wanting to continue the conversation.

***

One of the perks of working as a programmer were flexible hours of working. He had stayed longer during the week so he could leave earlier that day. It was a Friday and Matt was going to help with an event at Meadow’s Orphanage for Bunnies. He had been volunteering at it since he started his training for certification. He wanted to have some real experience with kits and orphanages gladly accepted any help. He was helping with a ‘meet and great’ typo of event. Prospective parents could meet kits before deciding to adopt them. It was happening once every month. There were games for adults and kits to play and bond.

Since he was helping at the orphanage he knew that there were any kits that fit his adoption profile so he could just relax and help other people find their families. Bunnies and hares were rather unique when it came to adoption. As a species they were very focused on a family. Infertility was the main reason for divorce among bunnies and hares. However that internal need for family was great news for kits that waited to be adopted. Kits didn’t have to wait long to be adopted and they always were adopted with their littermates. It was rather common for infertile couples to adopt more than one litter at the time. Well bunnies in the cities didn’t have as big families as ones in for example Bunnyburrow. Bunnies in the city preferred to have one or two litters.

Matt Leaper was from Bunnyburrow but moved to Zootopia for work and opportunity to adopt. In places like Bunnyburrow there weren’t really any orphanages because most of the time the closest family took care of kits in case something happened to their parents. So in his adoption plan he had to offset the fact that he did not have family in Zootopia with a good apartment and well paid job.

Matt parked his car in front of a big brick building. It looked older compared to the buildings around it. Three storey building was old school converted to an orphanage with a big backyard for kits to play in a safe environment. He smiled as he heard happy voices coming from the building as he opened a big wooden door and went in.

That place reminded him of his home in Bunnyburrow. It was really about the architecture but it was about the atmosphere. That place was alive in ways that his apartment could not compare. All kits that ended up there had a sad story attached to them but you could not tell that when entering the building. It was a place of healing and chance for a new beginning for kits and prospective parents. People on charge were doing great.He smiled when he saw a familiar white fluffy bunny with green eyes and waved to her. 

“Hello Monica.” She was one of mammals that worked at the orphanage and he had the best connection with her. 

“How is it going?” He said as he approached.

She smiled but eyes wandered around the area and back to the clipboard. They were standing in a hallway that looked like it belonged in a boarding school. It had a classy feeling and had a lot of accents on the walls made from real wood. It showed that the building was meant for herbivores. Sharper claws would quickly destroy it.She sighed. 

“Busy day with the event coming up.” She looked tired but there was also weird worry in her eyes that he couldn’t explain. 

“Oh! I’m sure that you’ll be happy to know that B’s got adopted.” She said happy. 

“B4 or B6?” His ears went up curious, focusing on his friend. 

“B6. They were picked up today. Some people want to start right away with bigger litters. But I think that B4 are also close to adoption. Hoppers really like them and 4 kits seems like a good fit for them.” Matt loved hearing success stories. He hoped that soon he would be one of them as well.

Monica was clenching her clipboard and Matt’s ears dropped a little as he noticed it. 

“Is everything ok?” He asked with concern. She bit her lip and looked around to make sure that no one would her. 

“We got a troublemaker placed in our orphanage. Kit who is in the system for a very long time and mammals aren’t willing to adopt him. Normally we are able to avoid it because we deal with bunny and hare kits but since we had a good year orphanage had few rooms open and nonspecific orphanages were overflowing so he ended up here. It’s rather standard for kits like that to be bounced around so orphanages could focus on children that they can actually help.”

At first Matt was excited when he heard that there was a kit without littermates. However his excitement dipped when he realized that the boy was not a bunny. He just nodded. 

“I’m sure you can deal with him until you will be able to place him in a different orphanage. “ He rubbed her shoulder for comfort. “Should I set up tables like last time.” 

He tried to change the subject. “Yeah.”

He left Monica to her work and went to the backyard area. It was a big green area with a nice playground. There were already kits running around enjoying the nice spring weather. He smiled as he watched kits play. One of those days his future kits will run around this playground. He just needed to be patient enough. He liked helping those kits but tried to not interact with them too much. He knows himself and getting attached to them only for another family to adopt them would be too much for him. So his jobs were mostly cleaning, helping out with food, fixing things around the building. Sometimes he would watch over kits as they play or be a judge for one of their games. Kits were adopted rather quickly so they were gone before he could get attached to them.

He opened a storage which was a small building behind the orphanage and started to pull out plastic chairs and tables for the event. He had done that few times already so in general knew how everything should be set up. Play area had wooden benches and tables for big groups to sit around and plastic tables were meant for people who would like more private time with their potential kits. When they were in place he went inside to the playroom and got a few boardgames and baskets with balls.

It was not long before kits started to fill the area and teachers came to watch over them. It was like a picnic so snacks were placed on wooden tables and party games were organized by teachers. It reminded him of The Carrot Days Festival back in Bunnyburrow.

Matt watched as prospective parents arrived. He was volunteering a lot and had training with many of them. It was always interesting to see how people react to situations like that. Some couples were confident and it was easy to tell that it was not their first adoption process. He really enjoyed watching couples trying to get their first litter. Over time changing from being nervous and unsure around kits to people who couldn’t live without their future kits.

Hoppers were a couple like that. They started their training at the same time as Matt so he saw their journey. It warmed his heart as Britney, Beth, Bobby and Ben squicked happily and ran towards them to greet and hug them. It was truly just a matter of time before they would go home with Hoppers.

At those events his job was to just make sure that everything ran smoothly and assist if help was needed. Mammals working at the orphanage were well oiled machines so most of the time he could just enjoy watching as new families were forming. However this time he saw something that he was not really expecting. Away from all games and tables stood a young fox. He was the troublemaker that was assigned to Meadow’s Orphanage for Bunnies. People in charge had to be really desperate to place a fox in a bunny orphanage.

Matt tried to ignore the fox but from time to time his eyes were wandering into the boy's direction. The fox was standing under the tree that was close to the door with both paws placed against it. His ears were folded against his head as he was looking around the area. He was wearing a blue t-shirt and gray shorts which looked nice against his red and cream fur. He had standard black markings on his ears, paws. His tail had a darker shade of red and white tip. His icy blue eyes were looking in a direction of any sudden movement. There were few unsettling about that boy. Of course the main one was the fact that he was a fox but there was more to that. His tail was a mess. It was not brushed in a long time. Fur on his tail was matted and standing in weird directions giving him more of a troublemaker vibe. Second thing was the way he was standing. It did not look comfortable. His body was tense and claws from his paws were digging into the bark as if he was afraid to let go. He was standing on balls of his feet and was bent forward so his leg and belly weren’t making a straight line.

Matt looked around to see if Monica was free. He wanted to ask about the fox but he couldn’t find her. When he looked back into fox’s direction he noticed an interesting situation. Ball was resting a few feet away from the fox. Three bunny kits were watching it and were afraid to get any closer. The fox moved around the tree in a way that it was between him and kits and just peaked out from behind it. The fox was the size of a teenage bunny and with him being a predator he could see why kits didn’t want to get any closer. The fox looked around to see if someone was going to help with that situation. When it was clear that no one was coming, the fox moved around the tree to be as close to the ball as possible. Then he pushed away from the tree. He made a few shaky steps towards the ball and stopped. He was still in that weird bent forward position and was walking on the balls of his feet. His arms waved around as he was trying to keep his balance. When he did regine his balance he took a few more shaky steps and finally kicked the ball very clumsily to the kits. As soon as the ball was far away from the fox, kits snatched it and ran away.

Matt was more fascinated with what the fox was doing. The boy was waving his arms around to keep balance as he was turning back toward the tree. He took one step and something went wrong. The fox fell and started panicking. He was looking around as if he was in danger. He tried to push himself up but was not able to get that balance back so he kept falling. The fox was breathing fast and Matt was worried that the boy got hurt. The whole situation got the attention of people around him which made the fox panic even more.

No one was moving to help the boy. Matt caught expressions of a few teachers in the area.. Some tried to look away, others bit their lips nervously. No one wanted to get closer to the panicked fox. Matt shared that feeling. But then for a split second his eyes had med boy’s eyes. There were the eyes of a panicked boy that couldn’t get up. His heart was racing as he slowly moved to help the boy out. Matt’s nose was twitching nervously and his ears were up looking for danger.

Matt was watching boy’s every move and finally he saw boy’s feet up close. They were just wrong. Ankles were too far away from toes and he did not have heels that he could rest his body mass on. Matt's eyes went wide, ears lowered and mouth hanged open. The fox was a feral. It was a common name for people with his condition. It was a birth defect that made his legs and hips more like his ancestors, so not really suited for bipedal walking. Matt reached to help the boy get up.

Sudden movement at the edge of his vision made the boy yelp in panic and instinctively slashed at the object. His claws cut Matt’s shirt and dug into his forearm. Matt cried out in pain and felt the warm wetness of blood on his fur. The fox shocked by what just happened decided to just run away. He abandoned his plan to stand up and on all fours ran to the orphanage. Matt fell to the ground. His nose was twitching like crazy. Ears were folded behind on his back. He was sitting on the grass keeping his damaged right forearm close to his chest as Monica was running to help him.


	2. The perfect weekend

Matt was sitting in a chair at the nurse’s office. Monica was checking his wound. Matt’s nose stopped twitching but his ears were still down. Everything happened so fast. His mind was still processing everything. The bunny winced as Monica cleaned his wound. 

“Sorry.” She said and continued her job.

“Good news. You won’t be needing stitches but…” She picked up a razor. “We still need to shave the fur in that area to make sure that wounds will stay clean.”

Matt looked at his forearm. Only 2 claws cut his skin. Wounds were not deep but rather long. He sighed and held his arm up for easy access. Electric razor was buzzing and soon the area around wounds was shaved. It was quickly covered with a bandage.

“You should buy an ointment that will help your wounds heal. It’s still too early to tell if they will be visible.” She tried to cheer him up. 

“It should be fine, they are rather thin so fur should grow over them.” She said with a smile but it was quickly followed by her ears lowering. She massaged her arm and avoided his eyes. 

“I’m sorry. I should have warned you about him. There was information in his file that he’s a scratcher.” She looked at him. 

“It was just a busy day and I assumed that he would stay in his room.” She looked at him with her big blue eyes.

“No problem. I understand.” He said that but his body was tense. He kept his arms close to his body for comfort and his ears still hung low. 

“I still can’t believe that they put the fox in the bunny orphanage.” His voice was filled with concern and shock.

“Yeah. It’s weird. Normally we get herbivores when it comes to troublemakers. It’s our first predator and he’s a fox. Staff’s worried but we’ll get used to it.” Both bunnies were uncomfortable talking about it. 

“In some ways we’re lucky that we got a feral fox. I’ve read his file. Normally troublemakers like to stick together to cause chaos. Because of his condition bad kids didn’t want to hang out with him. So he ended up being a loner. It’s much better for us than the kit looking for trouble.” She tried to sound casual about it.

“It’s my first time seeing a feral up close. Of course I saw them on tv but never in person. Is it rare?” His inner curiosity was showing up.

Monica sat in her own chair. “Yeah. It’s a manageable condition. He just needs a lot of physical therapy. He could comfortably walk with a cane. Some ferals are able to walk without it. Their gait is just different. It takes a lot of work to get to that point. Sadly the city isn’t willing to pay for any of that.”

Matt ears shot up with and eyes went wide. “Really?!” 

He had mixed feelings about the fox but still the city should provide for orphans in need.

“Yeah. It is categorized as a quality of life improvement. Because of that resources are allocated to other kits with more severe conditions.” She frowned. Monica had been dealing with the bureaucracy for a long time and she still was finding out new things that annoyed her. “To be fair to them, he can move around on all four just fine. You saw how fast he ran away.”

Most mammals were able to comfortably walk on all fours. It just was not a proper behaviour. There were also so many advantages to walking on 2 legs. Simple ability to keep something in a hand while walking was a big deal. It allowed for use of tools and weapons in motion. It was also much more convenient in the modern world since cell phones were invented. Kids sometimes like to play on all fours but they rather quickly grow out of it. They realize that they can’t hold their favourite toy while they walk on all fours. Matt tried to imagine how his life would look like if he had to walk on all fours all the time. Just going shopping would be annoying and people would not like to be around him.

“Yeah I see the logic in that.” He had to admit. 

“But it still seems cruel to not give him a chance to walk on two feet.” He sighed. “It also makes him unadoptable.” 

Matt knew a lot of statistics. Foxes rarely got adopted. In those rare cases when a couple wanted a fox, the kit had to be perfect. Most foxes spent their whole life in the foster system and just left when they were old enough. They stayed in awkward silence. It was a sad reality of fox’s life. 

“I guess we should get back. We don’t want kits to be worried about us.”

When Matt got back to the picnic he assured everyone that it was fine. That it was just an accident. It was so sweet that those kits were worried about him. He tried to get to know every kit in the orphanage. Bunnies were rather good with names because they had big families. They insisted that he would play a few games with them.

***

“I told you that it is not a problem.” Matt was sitting on his bed in an oversized t-shirt and boxer briefs. It was an early Saturday morning. He was rubbing his eyes trying to wake up. 

“See you soon.” He ended the call and fell back on the bed to rest for a few more seconds. After a minute or two he groaned and made an effort to get up and make his bed.

He did not have a lot of time so he got to his wardrobe to pick up some comfortable clothes. He lay them on the bed and rushed towards the bathroom for a quick shower. He owned a two bedroom apartment with a large living room and an open kitchen. Apartment was meant for mammals that were a little bigger than him but it did not take that much effort to downsize it. It meant a lot more space for him. Only the kitchen needed to be remodeled. He did not mind a bigger bathroom. Other bedroom was a guest room with a nice big bed and a desk. Whenever he did not have guests over, he was using it as an office. Mammals were always surprised to see that he picked a smaller bedroom to be his. Matt did not need a lot of space and it would be easier to just move out the desk when he would get his kits.

He took a quick cold shower to wake up. He always enjoyed staying in the fur drier but that day he did not have time. He brushed his teeth and put on contact lenses. After that it was a dash to the bedroom to put on the clothes and fresh bandage over his wounds. He wore a comfortable gray t-shirt and brown shorts. He ate a quick breakfast and made sure that apartment was clean.

Doorbell rang. He opened the door and saw Tom, his hare friend from work. His wife Martha was standing next to him. They were holding their kits in their arms. “Please come in.” He smiled politely and stepped aside to let them through. The whole family had gray fur that was standard for hares. “Nice to see you again.“ He smiled at his friend and his family.

“Mr. Matt!” Kits shouted happy to see him and as soon as they were put down 4 year old kits went to hug him. He picked up Anna, Brian and Connor to give them a hug. Both boys were wearing blue t-shirts and black shorts. Anna was wearing a pink t-shirt and white skirt. He set them down and smiled. 

“I left coloring books for you in the living room. You can start working on them. I need to talk with your parents.” Kits nodded and rushed towards the table in the living room.

“Here you have a change of clothes for them and their PJs” Said Tom as he was handing Matt the bag. Tom noticed the bandage but he questions could wait. 

“Sorry again for dropping them on you out of the blue.” Said Martha but at the same time she was nervously checking her phone.

“It isn’t a problem.” Matt took a toilet sit for kits from Tom. “I didn’t have anything planned for this weekend and you have an emergency.”

“We really appreciate it.” Said Tom and shook his hand. 

“We’ll treat you to a nice dinner when we get back.” Said Martha as she hugged him. “We’ll be back tomorrow afternoon.”

Matt nodded. “We’ll be fine so don’t worry. Have a safe trip and see you tomorrow.”

***

Matt was sitting on the couch reading a book and watching over kits as they were colloring. Brian went for a superhero themed book, Anna preferred plants and Connor picked one with lizards. Matt knew that kits were trying to convince their parents to buy them a lizard. Apple slices were on a plate nearby for them to eat.

Matt heard the sound of something scraping on the wood. He looked from his book to kits. Anna was rubbing her pencil on her front teeth and nibbling it gently, not strong enough to do damage. He put down the book and went to the bathroom. He came back with 2 wooden cylinders of different colors and presented them to Anna. “Would you like pine wood or cherry wood?”

The girl looked up at him and seemed to realize that she was nibbling at the pencil. Something that she should not do. Matt with a smile showed her that she was not in trouble and held wooden cylinders in front of her.

“Cherry!” She squeaked and Matt gave her a darker cylinder.

She bit it and continued coloring. She was grinding her front teeth on the cherry wood. He got them an educational coloring book. Every white area had a dot in a color that that area should be. So the child could match it and see what the thing really looks like. 

“I think that there’s a cherry flower in the book. Can I see it?” He asked and waited for permission to take the book.

Anna was a quiet kid so she just pushed the book towards him. He noticed that she was trying to stay in lines but colors did not match dots in the area. Soon he found a page with a cherry flower and showed it to her. 

“This is a cherry flower.” It was a picture with a branch that had few cherry flowers on it. 

“Those flowers grow on trees that your wood is from.” She pulled the cylinder out of her mouth and looked at it. She looked amazed.

“I want to see a flower tree.” She said with a shine in her eyes. Kits were raised in the city so they didn’t have a chance to see fruit trees.

“I’ll tell your parents about it. There are few of them in the city.” She smiled and nodded. She quickly went back to chewing and coloring. He looked over at boys’ coloring books. They didn’t really follow lines and added extra stuff on the page. Brian added some laser beams and explosions to his super hero. Connor was clearly copying it, adding the same things to his lizard. 

“What are you doing?”

Brian lifted his book. “Hero fighting a bad guy.” 

It was matched with Connor lifting his book. “And the lizard fighting a bad guy.” 

They looked at each other and smiled

“Oh so they are a team. Do they have adventures together?” He asked with a smile and was bombarded with stories about a flying hero, lizard that was driving a car. and how they fought bad guys. Matt already knew that it was going to happen. Boys liked to tell crazy stories and he liked to listen to them from time to time. Matt overacted his shock and surprise when boys told him something they found amazing. He was asking questions about their heroes and they were eager to answer them.

He looked at the clock and noticed that dinner time was coming up. He still needed to do some shopping. He was not expecting guests so his fridge was rather empty. 

“Ok kits. Who does want to go shopping with me?” Matt of course could not leave kits unattended. However they would be more willing to work with him if they would think that it was their idea. Their heads turned towards him and they were excited to go.Matt grabbed his wallet, phone, keys and shopping bag. Kits were waiting for him in the hallway. 

“Ok. Remember the rules. You stick close to me. Do not run. If you get lost, stay in one place and I will find you. Do not go with strangers. Do you understand?” Then he gave kits his business cards. “If some stranger ask you what is wrong, you can give them that card”

Kits were not really listening but he hoped that something would stay in their heads. There was a grocery store near his building so it was a short trip. Kits should make it without problem. He grabbed the boys' hands and Anna took Connor’s hand as they left the apartment.

It was not a long walk but took a long time. Four year old kits were not the fastest mammals on the planet and they were easily distracted. They had time so he let them check an interesting flower or watch some interesting mammal go by. He was pleased to see that they kept holding hands.

Grocery store was rather big so kits got excited when he got a shopping cart and put them in it. Shop was meant for small to medium mammals. Most mammals in the area were herbivores. There was only a small section for predators.

Matt already knew what he was going to get. He was going to make a vegetable soup. It was healthy and perfect for growing kits. He already knew the layout of that place so was going from shelf to shelf collecting ingredients. He waved to a few mammals from his building that he was familiar with. Mammals smiled as kits were trying to convince him to buy some cookies. He caved in and bought some sugar free cookies that they would get after dinner.

In line to the check up he was tickling and poking kits. They were laughing and were brightening everyone’s day. At the check up, a nice older sheep smiled at him. 

“You have lovely kits.” She said. Most mammals could tell the difference between hare and bunny but he did not mind.

“Oh I’m just babysitting.” He was packing his groceries as kits were playing with each other in the cart.

“Well in that case you’ll make a wonderful father one day.” She complimented him and Matt was beaming with pride.

“Thank you very much.” His eyes were shining.

One their way back Anna got tired so he picked her up. It was not a problem. She was a small bunny so he held her close to his chest and could comfortably carry his groceries. Their adventure was tiring for kits so as soon as they got home, he got them to take a nap.

Rest of the day went by rather fast. He made a traditional vegetable soup. Kits were eating it without fussing which was a great success. Of course they got their promised cookies after the dinner. They still had some energy to burn so they went to the playground that was attached to the build and played with squirrels while Matt was watching over them. After that had supper and were getting ready for bed.

He watched as bunny kits were sleeping in a big king size bed in the guest bedroom. They were hugging each other. Young bunnies like to sleep together so that was the reason for him getting one big bed. I was expecting to get kits at an age when they still prefer sleeping together. He left doors ajar so in case of any trouble they could easily get to him. He went to his own bedroom smiling. It was a great day.

Next day also went by very fast. He woke up early and prepared sandwiches for kits. They had a quick breakfast, watched cartoons together and around afternoon their parents arrived. It was earlier than he expected but that probably meant that everything went fine.

“Thank you once again.” Said Tom as he picked up the bag and a toilet sit. Nearby Martha was getting kits ready to leave. Kits were talking about adventures that they had with Mr. Matt.

“I told you it wasn’t a problem. They are wonderful kits and it is a pleasure to have them around. I had a lot of experience from helping out with my siblings.” He smiled and was curous about his friend's trip. “So is everything fine with your aunt?” 

“Yeah. It was a heart attack but they caught it early so she should be fine. We just wanted to visit her to make sure that she was fine.” Tom sighed and his ears lowered. 

“She just scared us but my uncle’ll take good care of her.” Tom smiled softly.

“Ok, we’ll be going so you can enjoy what is left of your weekend. We still need to set up that dinner that we promised you.” Tom extended his hand.Matt shook it. 

“We’ll talk about it at work.” Matt turned to kits and waved to them. “Bye.”

“Bye, Mr. Matt.” They said together and Martha gave him a quick hug.

“We’ll babysit for you when you’ll have your kits. I am sure that you’ll want some free time for date nights.” She teased. Matt looked at Tom who just shrugged. 

“Good luck with the adoption process.” She said as they left.

Matt looked around his empty apartment which was so alive a few seconds ago. Cartoons were still playing. He smiled bitterly. It was his perfect weekend and it ended. He switched channels to a news station and prepared dinner for just himself.

***

“So how was the event at the orphanage?” Emma asked. They had a quick break while the software was processing data.

“It was very interesting. B6’s were adopted before the event and I have a sneaky suspicion that Hoppers are working on the paperwork for B4’s.” He liked telling good news. “It was a good year for the orphanage so most of those kits should find a home soon.”

Emma giggled. 

“I’m still shocked that you are able to remember names of those kits.” Sheep was thinking. “I have trouble remembering names of my distant relatives.”

Matt shrugged. 

“I think it’s a bunny thing.” He looked towards Tom for support. “We’re family oriented and have large families so we learn to remember names at an early age. It just stays with us.”

Tom shook his head. “I’m horrible with names but I’m from a small family so your theory can still be true.”

“On the topic of curiosities.” Owen finished writing an email and turned towards them. “What has happened to you?” 

Gopher pointed at the bandaged forearm.

Matt lowered his ears and bit his lower lip. He was wondering if he should tell them the truth. However that reaction got Emma’s full attention and there was a shadow of worry on her face. 

“I was scratched by a fox.” As on cue everyone glanced towards Liam. Liam narrowed his eyes and gasped annoyed. 

“I’m a hyena.” That made them turn away embarrassed by their reaction. Liam folded his ears against his head and looked tense. “Em… Can you tell us what happened?”

Matt lifted his ears curiously and looked at Liam. The hyena took that information far worse that Matt expected. 

“Oh it was an accident. He got scared and instinctively slashed at me.” Liam exhaled and relaxed.

“How did you get in a fox’s slashing range?” Tom sounded confused.

“He’s the new kit at the orphanage. Since the orphanage is doing well they decided to transfer him from the overcrowded one.” Matt explained.

“Whose brilliant idea was it to put a fox in the bunny orphanage?” At that point Tom sounded annoyed.

“They were going to get a predator that the other orphanage didn’t want and Monica said that they were rather lucky because they got a rather calm one.” He was defending the kit. “He is handicapped so other predators didn’t want him around. The fox ended up as a loner. I just spooked him. It really was just an accident.” He tried to convince them.

He could tell that his friends were not satisfied with that answer and Liam got really quiet. He wanted to continue but a female deer approached their section. 

“Mr. Parker would like to see you now.” Ms. Pamela said.

Matt was confused but quickly went to his boss’ office. Mr. Parker was sitting at his desk. The beaver had a stern expression. 

“Please sit down.” He pointed to the chair in front of the desk. Matt sat and mr. Parker gave him a piece of paper. “Can you explain this?”

Matt blinked a few times as he read the title of the printed out email that his boss got from the MR department: ‘Anonymous complaint about speciest behaviour.’


	3. The fox with no name

Matt could not believe his eyes. Someone reported him to the MR department. He felt so small as he was sitting in the chair. His boss was judging him for something that he did not do. Things in the report were twisted to make him look bad. 

“Sir, it’s some kind of misunderstanding.” The beaver silenced Matt with a stern look.

“Mr. Leaper. We don’t tolerate that kind of behaviour. The only reason why you still have a job is that it is an anonymous complaint. I hope that someone just misunderstood your interaction with Mr. Savanna.” Beaver pressed a button on his phone. “Could you ask mr. Savanna to join us?”

“Of course, sir.” Mechanical female voice sounded in the room.

“I’m really disappointed in you. I wrote a recommendation letter for your certification and now you do something like that. I hope that you’ll not pass those views to your kits.” The beaver was really angry. They were waiting in an awkward silence until the door opened and the spotted hyena walked in.

Liam’s head hung low and looked around the room nervously, trying to figure out what was going on. He folded his ears when he saw Matt. 

“Am I in trouble?” He sat in the chair next to Matt.

“Of course not.” The beaver smiled warmly. 

“We just want you to comment on some report that we got about Mr. Leaper.” Mr. Parked handed him another copy of the email to read. “And don’t worry about voicing your opinion. Management is here to support you and make you feel safe and welcomed.”

Liam looked from the beaver to bunny trying to find an answer to what was happening. Then looked at the paper. His eyes narrowed and he was getting more angry the longer he was reading. His upper lip was raised but made sure not to show teeth. His nostrils widened and looked one step away from snarling. He took a deep breath to compose himself and his muzzle relaxed.

“Let me guess. If i say that it is true, he’ll lose his job.” He said with a flat almost mechanical tone.

“Yes because our company doesn't tolerate speciest behaviour.” The beaver said with a fatherly smile. Matt dug his blunt claws into his palms expecting to be fired in a few minutes. He knew that no one would listen to his side of the argument.

“Sorry, sir. But that’s just stupid. It all happened but not like it is described in the report.” Liam said with an annoyed tone. Matt turned his head so fast that he was afraid that he would break it. The beaver looked disappointed. 

“Are you sure? The report says that he does not value your idea and always corrects you.” Mr. Parker prodded as if he was looking for something. 

“His ideas were just better and I was venting my frustration that I wasn’t able to find the solution on my own.” Liam said casually.

“Please do not say that. At our company we value every idea.” The older beaver was talking like a teacher that wanted his student to open up.

“No.” Liam said with a sour look. “His ideas were objectively and mathematically better. We’re working at a tech company. I can even give you performance charts comparing my solution to his. His solution would win every time.”

“How about his flinching when you approach him?” The beaver asked with a hope in his voice. 

“Matt has few issues but I don’t believe that it is because he’s speciest. He’s just not used to bigger mammals approaching him. He always tries to invite me to have lunch with his friends, value my opinion during brainstorming sessions and is nice in general. It would be really hard for him to be speciest at the same time.” Liam said calmly

At that point Mr. Parker was the one with a sour expression. 

“Thank you for your clarification. You can both go back to work.” The beaver said and started typing something on his computer.

Liam was angry as they left the office. Matt wanted him to calm down before getting back to work. 

“Can we talk?” The bunny asked as he stood in front of the empty phoneroom, initiating him in. Liam just nodded and followed the bunny. As soon as the soundproof door closed, he let go of his pent up emotions.

“He wanted to fire you to show how progessive he is!” Liam was panting from anger. Matt’s nose was twitching, his eyes followed the movement of Liams claws and the bunny tried to stay away from the hyena. 

“If I was a dick, you would lose your job. And you did everything correctly. He would not give you a chance to defend yourself.” The hyena was pacing around. 

“Th… Thanks for your help.” Matt said with a shaky voice. 

“Well, you are prejudiced towards predators but it isn’t a reason to fire you.” Liam said as he was venting his frustration.

“Hey! That isn’t true.” Matt was defending himself. That statement stopped Liam’s venting and he looked at the bunny.

“Really?” The hyena raised his eyebrow. 

“You treat everyone equally so you aren’t speciest but you are clearly scared of me. Your nose is twitching like crazy.” Liam pointed it out and crossed arms on his chest.

“I… I’m just not used to big predators because I normally hang out with prey.” Matt was annoyed by that accusation.

“Because you’re too afraid to get to know any predator. You wouldn’t discriminate against them but hanging around with one is just too much for you.” Liam’s venting was now turning into an argument with Matt.

“It’s more because of the convenience. My friends are around my size category. It just happens that they are prey. I don’t get out of my way to become friends with someone just because of their species to prove that I’m not a speciest. Doing that would be speciest because I would only care about what they are, not who they are. It’s exactly what your friend Sara is doing.” Matt many times heard how she was talking down to Liam. That made Liam pause and a brief glimpse of sadness showed on his muzzle.

“Yeah. She acts as if I’m too stupid to deal with problems and she’s the only one that can save me.” He sighed. 

“I let her hang around because I thought that she was harmless. She is probably the one that sent that complaint. She’s so set on being the hero that she doesn’t notice how speciest she is” Liam got rather quiet and started gently scratching the desk that was in the room with one claw. 

“You’re like her. You don’t see your own issues” Matt wanted to say something but Liam interrupted him. “I can prove it to you. If I am wrong, it should be easy for you to answer.” 

The hyena looked Matt in the eyes. “Tell me his name.”

“What?” Matt furrowed his brow confused. “Who are you talking about?”

“You said that you know the names of every kit in the orphanage. So tell me the name of the fox that scratched you.” Liam said with a sadness in his voice and looked at the desk, focusing on the place where he was scratching. 

Matt was frozen in place. His nose stopped twitching from the shock and wide eyed stared at the hyena. His heart was racing as he realized that he did not know that boy’s name. 

“It… It was a busy day and…” Matt got interrupted.

“Was it too busy to make sure that distressed kit was all right?” Liam sighed. 

“I’m sorry. I know how bunnies feel about foxes. With your fear of predators and just being scratched by the boy, it wasn’t a fair question. It was an intense situation” Matt didn’tt know what to say so they stayed in an awkward silence.

Liam added another claw to the scratching and his ears folded. He needed to know and he would not get another chance like that. 

“Was I hired because of the Mammal Inclusion Initiative?” He said without looking at Matt. 

“Sara thinks that is the reason why I got in. Mr. Parker’s attitude seems to suggest that too.” Liam sounded heartbroken.

Liam’s distress snapped Matt out of his shocked state. His ears lifted curiously. “Do you think that you deserve to be here?” 

“Yes… No… I don’t know. It’s my first serious full time job and I worked hard to get it. But I have made so many mistakes since I was hired” The hyena’s head hung low.

Matt was taken aback. He saw MII as a good thing. He didn’t expect that it could have such an effect on mammals that were minority in specific fields. 

“You were the best candidate. Don’t worry it is normal to make mistakes. You’re just getting used to how things work here.” Matt said with a smile. The bunny was in charge of interviewing candidates and Liam was the best. “The MII has been in effect for a month. We hired you before that.” 

Liam smiled and his tail wagged gently. They looked at eachother and the room was filled with an awkward silence again. 

“It’s lunch time. I think we should get something to eat.” Liam finally said.

“Yeah.” Matt opened the door and stopped. “So would you like to join us for lunch?” 

For the first time Liam did not just refuse which gave Matt a hope.“Ok but you’ll let me pick the table.” 

***

The company had many teams responsible for different parts of the software. For the first time since Liam was hired the whole team ate together. Liam picked a table in the corner of the room and himself sat in the corner. He asked his teammates to sit in an L shape on the opposite side from him so everyone would be in front of him. Herbivore animals pulled out various salads. Everyone got nervous when Liam pulled out some kind of sauce with meat in it.

“I’m glad that you finally joined us.” Emma said with a smile. Liam shrugged. 

“I’m used to eating alone. After that horrible meeting with the boss, me and Matt chatted and I decided to give it a try.” Liam tilted his head down and looked at the table before eating some of his sauce. Everyone noticed that weird behaviour but no one wanted to point it out. They did not want to offend him on their first lunch together. 

“Yeah. What was that about?” Owen asked. Gopher was happily chewing on some roots. 

“Oh he wanted to fire Matt for being a speciest.” Liam almost killed 2 mammals as Matt and Tom started coughing to get the food that they prematurely swallowed out of their windpipes. They didn’t expect to hear that.

“Really!?” Ewe was shocked

“Yeah. There was an anonymous complaint that Matt is speciest against me.” All of them looked at the bunny who was still coughing. “The whole thing was so stupid.”

Liam was the only one facing the room so he saw a gray bunny approaching. Sara winked at him and smiled. 

“Sorry guys but Liam promised to have lunch with me so could you leave?” She was really smug about it. 

“No, I didn’t. Could you stop bothering me?” Liam sighed.Her brow furrowed and her smile disappeared. 

“Really. After what I did for you.” She glanced towards Matt. 

“ You should be more grateful.” She winked again.

“Just leave me alone. I’m fine and I don’t need your help.” Liam narrowed his eyes. She looked angry and without a word walked away. 

“She put up less of a fight than I expected." He blinked confused.

“I’m not getting fired. Everything is fine. Can we move on to some more pleasant topics?” Matt suggested as he finally got his breathing under control.

***

Matt was not sure what he was doing and why he was doing it. He was sitting in his car in a parking lot in front of the orphanage. He was not planning to visit it that day. Before he noticed he took a turn and was on the way to the orphanage. His argument with Liam probably had something to do with it. He was so disappointed in himself that he did not know the boy's name. He needed to correct that mistake. But the same feeling that wanted him to correct it, kept him in the car. Was he doing it for the right reason?

On one hand it felt like completing a collection. It would bother him that he did not know everyone’s names. He told himself that he would feel the same if it was a bunny kit. However when he finally got to the orphanage, he was not so sure anymore. The only reason he was in that situation was because the boy was a fox. So a situation like that would not happen if he was a bunny. Was it right for Matt to just go in and make himself feel better about that situation?

On the other hand he could just check how the fox was doing. Liam was right. The boy was distressed that day and Matt did not check on him. It was something that had bothered him since he was made aware of it. He could try to justify it. He did not want bunny kits to worry. They saw what happened and him missing for a long time could put a sour mood over the event. He forgot about the fox when he was playing with kits and the next day he was babysitting. He had a lot on his mind. 

It started raining. It was a soft spring rain. Gentle tapping on the windshield was relaxing. View of the orphanage got distorted and let Matt focus. He needed to make sure that the kit was fine. He could sort out his feelings and reasoning later. He got out of his blue hatchback and with fast pace went to the orphanage. He got a little wet but he did not mind. He smiled when he heard laughter coming from the brick building.

He thanked gods that Monica was the first teacher that he saw. The white doe narrowed her eyes. 

“Hello, Matt. What brings you in today?” Matt was always visiting on Friday. He was also visibly worried. His ears hung low and had a soft smile that was not reaching his big brown eyes. 

“Did something happen?” She asked while getting closer to him. She rubbed his shoulder. 

“I’m here because of the fox kit.” He slowly rubbed his hands together. 

“Oh.” Monica pulled away with a disappointed look. “Do you want to file a complaint?” 

It happened from time to time. Sometimes kits were roughhousing and bumped into an adult who was visiting the orphanage. Some mammals could not understand that it was an accident and were filing an official complaint. Depending on the situation it was a complaint about orphanages lack of proper upbringing or it was about kits themselves. Latter was much worse for the kit because it could end up in his record. The record that potential parents would see.

“What? No!” He said wide eyed. “I… I’m just wondering if he’s all right.” His ears got pink. “I was so busy that I forgot to check on him before leaving.” He looked really ashamed of that. “Is he ok?

Monica was caught off guard by that. Her expression warmed up and laughed. 

“Sorry. I should have suspected that you would pull off something like that. We don't get mammals like that too often.” Matt ears were getting redder by each second. After initial outburst of emotion the doe’s got serious. 

“He’s fine.. I guess.” Seeing confusion on Matt’s face she continued. 

“He just stays in his room and doesn’t talk with anyone. He was always quiet but before the incident he tried to explore the place. Now he stays in his room unless it’s time to eat or for his classes. Good thing that we teach kits at the orphanage or we might have a problem with getting him to school.” She sighed. 

“I’m not sure what we’re going to do about him. The director’s trying to get another orphanage to take him but it’ll take a few months.” She rubbed her arm and looked away. “It’s easier that we don’t have to deal with him.”

Matt bit his lower lip showing his buckteeth. The boy did not leave his room because of him. Teachers did not want to invest their time into someone that was going to leave soon and was a lost cause. They should at least give him a chance. He had to do something about it. 

“What can you tell me about him?”She looked at him suspiciously, judging what she could and should say. She rubbed her chin. 

“Not much. He was abandoned shortly after he was born. The handycapped kit was probably too much for the mother. He’s a scratcher. There was information in his file that he scratched a few mammals. His claws are getting long so we’ll have to ask someone predator to cut them. When he’s outside of his room he always walks on two feet by leaning against the wall. His gait is rather bad so it takes him a long time to get anywhere. He seems to like school. He goes to classes on his own. He doesn’t answer when the teacher asks him and doesn’t do his homework but gets good scores on tests. He’s listening for sure.” She was thinking for a few seconds. “I think that it is all I got.”

Matt nodded. His mouth was dry. There was some obvious information that was missing. “Eh… What is his name and how old is he?” 

“Kyle. He’s 7 years old.” He said casually not knowing how much that information meant to Matt. The fox was already the size of a teenage bunny so Matt expected him to be older.

“Can I see him?” His voice was shaky but there was determination in his eyes. Monica blinked wondering if she heard it right. 

“Sure. You just have to be careful. He’s a scratcher after all. He has his own room. It’s one designed for handycapped kits with his own bathroom. That’s mostly the reason why he doesn’t leave his room. Follow me.” She started walking.

Kyle’s room was at the ground floor in the corner of the building. Matt's heart was racing as he was standing in front of the door. Monica knocked on the door and they heard some movement inside. 

“Kyle. You have a guest. He’s coming in so don’t be surprised.” She looked at Matt and said quietly. 

“I will be around. Call for me in case of any trouble.” She patted his shoulder. 

“Good luck.” The doe went back to her work.

Matt’s nose twitched as he opened the door. His ears stood up scanning for any sound of danger. Room was big and specious. From supports bolted to walls, he suspected that it was designed for kits in wheelchairs. Curtains were partially pulled over the window making the room darker than it should have been at that time of the day. He looked around and could not find the fox. 

“Kyle?” He called for the boy and heard some sound coming from under the bed.

He laid on the floor a few feets away from the bed. First thing that he noticed were shiny icy blue eyes staring at him. The kit was in the corner and was trying to back up even more but walls were preventing that. His paws slided on the wooden floor and he was breathing fast. The boy observed every movement with his big scared eyes. Matt heat sank at that display. He smiled softly. 

“Hello. My name is Matt. It is nice to officially meet you.” Matt still felt tense being alone with a panicked predator in the room but they kept his distance away from the bed. The boy’s fur was a mess. It was most obvious on his tail. His claws were getting long and should be trimmed. 

“Your name is Kyle, right?” He asked and waited for the answer. The kit just stared at him unsure what was happening. 

Matt tried to think back to his training. He should not force the fox to do something that he is not comfortable doing. That meant that getting him out from under the bed was out of the question at that point. So at first he just tried to lay there but awkward silence and stared down with an adult was doing more harm than good. At some point the kit glanced at the bandage and Matt tried to pick up a conversation based on that. 

“Oh don’t worry about it. I know that it was just an accident.” He tried reassuring but again, it did not have any effect. 

It didn't have any positive effect on the kit but Matt was getting more and more comfortable. He was forgetting that he was in a room with a predator. His mind was focusing on any ideas that would make the fox relax. Chatting wasn’t working. He remembered something that Monica said. 

“Give me a moment. I will be back soon.” He stood and got out of the room.

Monia was helping kits clean up as Matt ran out of the room “Oh. How did it go?”

“Poorly but I have an idea. I will be right back.” He said with happy determination on his face. He ran to his car. It was still raining but he parked rather close. He grabbed his bag and went back inside. He was panting when he reached the boy’s room. He took a few deep breaths and knocked on the door. 

“Kyle it’s me again. I’m coming in.” He didn’t want to spook the kit.

The bunny pulled a laptop from his back and set it on the floor. 

“I heard that you like going to your classes.” He looked at the fox who was still in the corner looking scared. 

“So I figured out that we can watch something fun together.” He just kept talking to get Kyle comfortable with him being around. 

“Recently they added to the pawflix my favorite kithood cartoon ‘The magic classroom’. It’s about a teacher that has a magic classroom that can change the world inside it. That way kits can learn in person about various things. One time they become super small so they can see atoms, other times they have goggles that let them see sound waves. Of course magic isn’t real but it’s a fun way to learn about science.” He found the show on the pawflix, set the laptop on the ground and angled the screen in a way that it would be comfortable for the kit to watch. He laid on the ground next to the bed and pressed play so they could watch the show together. 

It was an episode about sound waves. He was watching it but was more focused on the kit. At the corner of his eye he could see that Kyle was glancing between him and the screen. As the time went by the boy was focusing more on the show. The fox was vigilant but Mt could say that he was really enjoying the show. As the episode finished Matt looked at the kit. 

“Did you like it?” The fox was visibly confused but not as scared as he was at the start. Then he finally nodded. It was a small and careful movement but Matt could make it out. It was still early and Matt was happy that he was getting through to the kit. 

“I have time to watch one more.” He said with a smile as he pressed play. The kit’s eyes shined in the darkness as the screen flashed with colors and they watched the show together.


	4. To face your fears

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you TheUnaccomplishedWriter for being an amazing editor for this chapter

Matt lay in bed, unable to sleep. It had been a very eventful day. He still could not believe that he watched cartoons with the fox kit that scratched him. The whole time that Matt was there Kyle stayed in the corner under the bed. Matt hated to admit that but it made his visit easier. He was still scared of the boy. He knew that it was an accident but he couldn’t help what he instinctively felt. For both fox and bunny, they were going to need to get used to being around each other.

He got what he wanted from that visit. He knew the name of the fox. So why was he still awake? The answer was surprisingly easy. It was because Kyle was not ok. From his file he learned that sooner or later the fox ended up staying in his room most of the time. It happened at every orphanage he had been at so far. Matt felt responsible for accelerating the process but it was not really the reason why he thought that Kyle was not ok. He was forgotten by the system. Someone decided that the kit was not worth the money and effort that was needed to have a normal life. On top of that he was a fox, a species that not many orphanages wanted to take and mammals wanted to adopt. So that meant trying to get rid of him as soon as they could. That kind of attitude translated to teachers and caregivers. Even with the best intentions they did not want to invest time in a kit that was going to leave soon.

That did not sit well with Matt. Foxes had an incredibly low adoption rate. And that’s just able-bodied foxes. A fox kit with a disability was more likely to end up in the foster system than getting adopted. So, for Kyle, odds were stacked seemingly insurmountably against him. 

However, Matt could do something to improve Kyle’s odds. He was visiting the orphanage once a week. He sometimes helped kits with their homework and played with them but they were already well taken care of. The bunnies get the chance to learn from so many people that all it did was make the teachers have less to teach. He could do something that would affect the fox kit in a positive way. 

At that point he knew that he would not be able to sleep until he had at least a concept for what he was going to do. He reached for his phone and looked for any studies regarding foxes. Despite his nearsighted eyes making out the words on his phone clearly, Matt reached out and put in his contact lenses. Most of the articles he found were ones that he’d already seen when he was making his adoption plan. Most of the studies he had been reading beforehand didn’t even include foxes in their data. Eventually, Matt abandoned his prior research and started afresh. It took the bunny over half an hour to find some recent studies about species that were considered problematic and had low adoption rates. It mostly focused on foxes, raccoons and hyenas. As he absorbed all the information on the report that he could, a smile grew on his face. 

***

The office was almost empty when he arrived on Tuesday morning. His company was rather flexible about work hours. You just needed to arrive before 10 am and work for 8 hours. At 7 am the building was almost empty. Matt was used to waking up early because he was often helping out on his parents’ farm when he was younger. He also learned that he could do a lot of work in the morning when no one was bothering him and after work had plenty of time to go shopping or help at the orphanage. 

After 15 minutes Liam showed up. As usual, he looked half-awake and was yawning. 

“Morning.” Liam said with a tired voice as he sat at his desk. It was interesting to share office space with a much bigger mammal. His desk stood out, being much bigger than all the others. It was close to the hallway so he would not need to pass smaller mammals and it didn’t disturb the design of the office space. 

“Hello!” Matt smiled. The bunny could tell that since yesterday some kind of unspoken tension between them disappeared. He already felt more comfortable talking to the hyena. 

“Why are you arriving so early every day?” He said.

Liam blinked as he tried to get rid of his sleepiness as he turned his chair to face Matt. The hyena tilted his head to the side and furrowed his brow. It was unusual. Normally, after greetings they kept quiet unless they were talking about something work-related. So, even a very basic question like this, was something new. 

Matt started the conversation with a smile but the longer the hyena stayed quiet and was looking at him with his head tilted, the more his ears drooped and his confidence wavered. Several emotions flashed on Liam’s muzzle, though too fast to recognize. Finally Liam straightened up his head and yawned. 

“I need to wake up early or I will get stuck behind my flatmates in the queue to the bathroom. You wouldn’t believe how long it takes wolves to get ready in the morning.”

Matt smiled and his ears sprang back up. 

“Well they are bigger than you and have thicker fur so it takes longer to clean it.” He pointed out.

Liam narrowed his eyes. 

“Yeah… They say the same thing. Are you sure that you are not working for them?” His expression softened and his tail wagged softly. 

“I am the one that gave them the research that shows the average shower time for different species.” Matt said with a professional and matter of fact tone. 

Liam was caught by surprise with that answer. Matt was so quick and serious that for a second the hyena thought that he was telling the truth. Liam's sleepy mind finally caught up and he started laughing. It was a soft and cute laugh.

“To be honest, I was expecting a different kind of laugh coming from you.” Matt said as he started laughing himself.

“Yeah, everyone does so don’t worry.” He brushed it off while still in a good mood. He heard that many times.

They looked at each other in silence. They got to that awkward point where they weren’t sure if they should continue their conversation or go back to work. They didn not know each other that well yet. They both waited for the other person to make that decision. 

“I am scared of you.” the rabbit blurted out, before he mentally hit himself for choosing that as a silence breaker.

Matt looked away for a second from embarrassment. 

“But I will not apologize for that. I will not apologize for something that I can not control. I just want you to know that I do not think that you will hurt me. I am not afraid of who you are but I am scared of what you are. I will work to overcome it but the only way to do that is by interacting with you. So please be patient with me.”

Liam’s ears went down as he sighed. 

“Your reason doesn’t make me feel better but I guess I understand.” He scratched his muzzle. The hyena was almost twice as tall as the bunny. When they stood next to each other Matt was looking at Liam’s belly. There was nothing he could do about it, but the hyena could see how overwhelming it would be for an essential giant to share the same office space as tiny rabbits. “It’s good that you want to work on that, though. After yesterday I thought that you would be in denial for much longer. Why the sudden change of heart?” 

“Kyle,” Matt answered.

‘Huh?’ 

“The fox kit that scratched me. I went to see him.” Matt’s nose was twitching “Even after spending time with him , I couldn’t deny that I was afraid of the fox.” He sighed and put his face in his hands. 

“A disabled seven years old boy was scaring me...to be fair he is almost as tall as me.

Liam scratched the back of his head. “That’s some heavy stuff.” The hyena was not used to that type of conversation. Joking around with friends was more his forte so he went with what he knew. 

“I am not sure if I know how to help you with your midlife crisis.” Liam said, hoping his joke would lighten the mood. 

“Hey! I am not _that_ old!” Matt overactive being offended. “I’m only 28!’

Liam’s eyes went wide. 

“Really?!” Liam blurted out, before biting his tongue for saying something so insensitive.

“Yeah…” Matt said sadly, his ears drooping again. “Do I look that old?” 

“No, no, no! You look good! It's hard to tell sometimes when mammal is a different species than you,” Liam said, scrambling to backpedal his stupid comments. “You are just so far ahead in life than me. I just assumed that you had to be much older than me. I mean, I’m only two years younger than you and I’m still living with my old University friends to pay less on rent. And you’ve got your own house and want to adopt kits.” 

This time it was Liam who looked away embarrassed. Liam could not imagine himself being responsible for a pup. Even babysitting was too much for him.

“Thanks?” Matt was not sure if it was a compliment, but it didn’t feel like an attack either so at least it was progress.. 

“I will try to help Kyle to get adopted.” Matt said determinedly.

“Oh.” Liam's ears got up. “How are you going to do that? Getting a fox adopted is as hard as getting a female hyena adopted.” 

Liam shuddered to think about non-hyenas adopting female hyenas without experience. They were bigger, stronger, and more aggressive than males. It was the reason why hyenas had a bad reputation. A lot of female hyenas in the city were in gangs and acted as enforcers.No one wanted the trouble of raising a teenage female hyena. 

“Yeah. I can’t guarantee that he will get adopted but I can give him the best chance.” Matt got excited. “Surprisingly he has a better chance of being adopted than the average fox. The best chance has a fox who is good in school, healthy, with great personality, and, of course, with no connections to any shady businesses or mammals. There was a new study that came out recently that looked closely at mammals with low adoption rates and they found out something interesting. All groups had the same type of mammals in second place.” 

Matt paused dramatically. “Outsider mammals. In their study they did not have disabled kits so it is not a one to one comparison. Kits that were smaller and weaker than average mammals. The researcher suggested that it was because mammals like that were picked on by other kids. They were highly unlikely to have negative attributes associated with the species.” His eyes shined. “Kyle could fit that category. His disability isn’t life threatening and regular exercises are good enough to get him to walk with a cane. I would also need to trim his claws and brush his fur and tail…” 

Liam nearly shot out his seat at the last part and interrupted Matt with a loud “No!” Matt's nose was twitching and ears lowered. He wasn’t sure what he did wrong.

“You… you can’t just touch fox’s tail without permission.” Liam could still see the confusion in Matt’s eyes. “ It is a cultural thing.”

Matt waved his hand dismissively.

“In that case it will not be a problem. He’s been in the system since birth. He won’t know about that custom.”

Liam shook his head gravely. “You are wrong.Some things you just know in your bones. From what I understand, foxes feel very strongly about their tails. It’s reserved only for their family. I knew few foxes when I grew up and they were very clear about that. If you touch his tail without permission, you may lose whatever trust you build in him. So you need to let him brush his tail on his own.”

Matt blinked in surprise. “Oh, thank you. That could have ended poorly before it even started.” Matt smiled in thanks at the hyena, before his eyes drifted towards the clock and realised they’d been chatting for half an hour.. 

“I think that we should get back to work.” 

Checking his watch, Liam nodded. “Yeah, well good luck is all I can say.” 

The pair began typing, before Liam’s ears perked up and he looked back over towards the bunny. 

“Oh, one last thing. What kind of disability does Kyle have?”

“He’s feral.”

***

“BC movies are so much better than the Wonder Cinematic Universe,” Emma exclaimed. The week had gone by nicely with Friday coming sooner than expected. Matt’s team was sitting together at the table during their lunch break, with Liam the newest addition at the table. Matt was glad that it had become a new norm for his team. Liam always insisted on picking the same table and sitting in the same configuration as he had the first time he sat with them and everyone else. They were happy to accommodate that small request. 

“I prefer my movies to be fun rather than dark and edgy.” Tom said as he popped a cherry tomato into his mouth.

“The only reason why you say that is because you have kits.” The ewe said while pointing a fork at the hare. “WCU movies are more family friendly. You have to admit that BC movies are objectively better.” 

Emma looked over at the rest of the team for backup. “You have to agree with me.”

“I don’t watch any of it.” Owen said, his head still glued to his phone, clearly not interested in the conversation.

“I like both.” Matt shrugged.

Emma and Tom stared intently at Liam hoping that he would be a tiebreaker. He sighed. “I hate BC so WCU wins.”

Tom lifted his hands in victory and Emma groaned. “You guys have a horrible taste.” 

She looked at Matt. “But don’t worry. You can make it up to me. I need to go to a shop in the Meadow district. It is on the way to the orphanage so you can take me there.” 

“’m not visiting the orphanage today but I have no problem taking you to the shop.” Matt said in between mouthfuls of his cucumber sandwich.

“Oh, did something happen?” Emma asked worriedly. 

“No, I just changed my visiting day to Monday. They don’t need that much help on Fridays because next day is a weekend and lots of potential parents are there as well. School nights are much more chaotic as well so I figured I’d go then. Plus, this way, I get to have a bigger weekend.” 

Matt smiled. He was telling the truth. He just didn’t mention that the main reason for changing the day was to visit Kyle. It just happened that his first visit was on Monday and Matt didn’t want to disrupt the schedule. He wanted Kyle to recognize the pattern quickly and grow accustomed to his continued presence. 

“So you finally listened to me! Matt, the busybody himself, is learning how to relax.” The ewe patted him on the back.

On the other side of the table, Liam looked puzzled. He wondered why Matt hadn’t told his friends about his plan to help the fox kit. Was he hiding the fact he was helping a predator? Shrugging, Liam popped a few crickets into his mouth. 

‘He’s still got a long way to go, I guess.’ Liam thought as he crunched on his food, as he continued to ponder over Matt and his silence. 

***

Matt had a game plan. Over the weekend he did a lot of reading on Kyle’s feral condition and all studies agreed on one salient point: building up a kit's strength was the most important. So counterintuitively, the first step to bipedal walking was a quadrupedal playtime. It was relatively easy to get the kit to be able to walk with a cane. Of course in that situation his posture and gait wouldn’t be perfect but he would be able to walk on two feet. He would be leaning forward with the angle between legs and belly being around 150 degrees. He just needed to be strong enough. 

When it comes to physical therapy, it was mostly about getting the kit to straight up and get that center of mass inside the kit's body. So building back muscles, a lot of stretching and getting the joints in legs and hips used to standing upright. It was way outside of Matt’s knowledge so he would probably have to have a physical therapist do it, or at least teach him the basics.. 

When Monday afternoon finally rolled around, he arrived at the orphanage ready to put his ideas to the test. He greeted Monica as he walked in. 

“Hello.”

“Hello,“ she replied cheerily. “People were wondering if you’d show up. I’m still surprised that you want to help Kyle.”

Matt shrugged. “I have time. It also means one less thing that you need to worry about.Those kits can be really handful.” 

He adjusted his bag on the shoulder, mentally checking that he had brought everything. “Does he know that I am coming?”

“Yes. I told him on Friday so he had time to adjust to the news.” 

“Great. Also can I borrow a ball? I want to see if I can get him to play with me.” 

“Sure. You can get one from the playroom.” Matt looked to a nearby door the white bunny was pointing at followed her white paw to.

Opening the door, Matt grabbed a big soft rubber ball that was safe for kits to kick around. The ball was bigger than his head so he guessed it should be good for the seven year old fox. 

He stopped in front of the fox’s room and took a few breaths. He felt his heart racing in his chest but at least he was able to get his nose twitching under control. He looked at the bandage on his forearm. Matt put a smile on his face and knocked. 

“Hello Kyle. It is me, Matt. I’m coming in..” He opened the door and walked in.

This time the room was more sunny. The curtains were pulled open from the window so afternoon lit up the room. Kyle stood at the end of his bed, his paw shakily gripping the frame for balance as his legs strained to remain upright. His big icy blue eyes stared at Matt, looking at the rabbit with unease. 

“Hello.” Matt waved softly and put his bag next to the door. “How are you?” 

Matt sat on the floor a few feet away from the boy. The rabbit retrieved the ball he just got, before tossing it in his paws. Kyle’s eyes followed the ball with great interest but he did not say anything. 

“I was thinking that this time we can try to play.” Matt gently set the ball on the floor. Matt's only goal was to get Kyle to move. He had read that canines loved chasing balls. He rolled the ball towards the apprehensive looking fox but not directly at him. It would bounce against the wall and get back to Matt. So Kyle needed to intercept it.

As soon as he rolled the ball he saw Kyle move. He turned towards the ball so one paw left the bed. Matt saw an excited look in Kyle’s eyes, his tail starting to wag a little at the prospect of chasing the ball. Matt watched in amazement. But, just as suddenly his mood improved, the boy’s mood changed. Confused, Matt tried once again but this time Kyle did not move, with only his eyes following the ball. After a few more bounced attempts, Kyle folded his ears against his head and looked very uncomfortable. 

“I guess we can try another time.” Matt conceded, trying to sound upbeat about it all. He could see that the fox kit wanted to chase the ball but for some reason did not. 

“I guess I need to do more research…” Matt thought. Putting the ball next to the door, out of the way so the fox wouldn’t be stressed about it, Matt went back to his bag and pulled his laptop out of it. 

“Would you like to watch another episode of The Magic Classroom?” he asked. Kyle’s sadness dropped away as he eagerly nodded and his tail flicked a few times. 

“Ok then get on the bed and I will get it ready.” Kyle clumsily climbed on the bed and waited for the show. Matt pulled a chair close to the bed so they could watch it together. 

He put the laptop on the bed and, on purpose, set the screen at a bad angle so the show would be discolored. 

“Is that angle good for you?” The fox shook his head. “Should I tilt it back or forward?” Matt asked, looking intently at the kit.

“Back.” Kyle answered as he waited patiently for the show to start. His voice was soft and childish. Matt knew that the boy was only seven years old but it was still weird to hear such a childish voice coming from someone almost as tall as him. Matt smiled kindly. Kyle did not seem to realize that he talked to Matt, his eyes still glued to the screen. Matt adjusted the screen and they watched the show together.

Kyle looked relaxed as he watched the show. Matt tried to follow the boy's example and focused on the show rather than on the fact that he was sitting next to a predator. The program was made for children but it was still interesting. 

After an hour of watching, Matt checked his watch, realising that he needed to leave soon. As the second episode came to a close, Matt switched off and packed up his laptop. Headin to the door, Matt picked up the ball and began to open the door. But, before he left, he turned to look at the fox, looking at him as he lay on the bed. 

“I will see you next Monday. Bye Kyle.” 

Matt smiled and waved as he slowly began to close the door. And, just as the door was beginning to shut completely, Kyle waved back.


	5. An innocent smile

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank you TheUnaccomplishedWriter for helping with this chapter

He stayed up late to figure out what he did wrong when he tried to play with Kyle. He had been looking at websites about fox, canine, and carnivore upbringing but the lack of any answers was making him more and more frustrated. After a few hours of searching, he finally realized that all sites were made _by_ predators _for_ predators. They just assured that the reader knew the basic stuff and that they were dealing with more sophisticated problems. But Matt wasn’t a predator and, even with all his research, there was something fundamentally basic he was still missing in his approach. He could not ask the fox what the problem was because he was still wary of him. 

The night’s sky had started to brighten by the time he finally gave up. Matt put the computer away and rested his head on his pillow, deciding to ask Liam the next day. 

The brown bunny was annoyed and tired when he finally arrived at work at a uncharastically late 8:30am. Unfortunately for him, Emma already arrived at the office and was chatting with Liam as they worked. 

“ _Guess the question will have to wait…_ ” he thought as he made his way to his desk. 

“I prefer simple and fast card games. Ones that you’re able to finish in about 30 minutes. Mostly about collecting sets or building your deck. I don’t have the patience to spend several hours playing one game.” Emma admitted

“Those games are good but nothing beats setting up a whole day aside to play one massive board game that takes hours to finish. It is like an event that you do with your friends.” Liam countered. “You should try it. It is fun.” 

Matt smiled as the two playfully argued with each other. Who would believe that only a week ago Liam was only willing to chat about work-related stuff. It took him some time to find his place but after that he warmed up to his coworkers rather quickly. 

“Oh no, I tried that. Once in college, me and Matt played Risk with our friends. It took us 6 hours to finish and at the end I wanted to kill him for backstabbing me.” Emma looked into the distance, shuddering at the memory. “Never again.”

“But Risk is not a good game so it is not a good example.” Liam reasoned, though a touch of annoyance seeping through .

“Matt said the same thing when he tried to convince me to play another long board game with him. So if he wasn’t able to convince me, you don’t have a chance.” 

Just then, the sheep’s eyes noticed the brown bunny seating himself at his desk, before smirking and waving to catch his attention.

“It seems you and Liam have similar interest in long, boring board games.”

“Hey! They’re not boring!” Matt protested which turned into a long yawn. “But, yeah, I’m interested in them. Shame that I wasn’t able to play anything that long since college. I love Twilight Imperium.” 

“That is a great game! You should try it some time.” Liam's ears were up and gesticulated a lot like an excited cub.

Emma just waved her hand dismissively and focused on Matt. “Yeah, yeah, sounds great. But, anyway, what happened to you? I think it is the first time that you go to work so late.” 

“I stayed way too long on my phone. I didn’t realize how late it was.”

“I mean, it’s _technically_ true.” Matt thought.

“Sure…” The sheep wiggled her eyebrows suggestive as she giggled. “You’ll have to show me what kept you up so late. I’m sure I’ll _love_ it too~” 

Matt groaned loudly which made the hyena chuckle softly.

***

“Sorry, not today. I’m in the mood for something sweet and a coffee from Snarlbucks.” Liam said as they were taking their lunch break. 

Matt turned his head away from the computer. It was his chance for a private chat with Liam.

“I’ll join you,” Matt said. He had brought his own lunch but he could always eat it at home. “Of course, if you don’t mind me coming with you.”

Liam shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t mind.” 

Matt locked his computer and followed the spotted hyena to the exit. 

“I was addicted to Snarlbucks when I was in college,” Matt admitted. “But then I needed to pay my loan so overpriced hot chocolate needed to leave my life.”

“You were going to Snarlbuck for hot chocolate!?” Liam shook his head in disappointed. “There are _so_ many better places that sell hot chocolate.”

It was a beautiful spring morning. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, the sun shining a comfortable heat upon the world. He loved taking walks through the Meadowlands District on days like this. The architecture reminded him of Bunnyburrow. It had an old towny feel. Buildings were made out of brick and sat low to the ground, with the skyscrapers of the metropolis far away over the rolling hills. It was the oldest part of Zootopia because the Meadowlands didn’t need climate control. It was natural for this part of the world. 

“Well, I don’t go out too much and Snarlbucks was close to campus.” Matt said as the hyena was getting ahead, making the rabbit quicken his pace to catch up. 

“Oh, I have a list of places that you’ll enjoy. One of them is nearby. We can check it out next time.” 

“I would love that.” Matt was panting. “Could you slow down? I know bunnies are meant to be quick, but I have shorter legs than you.”

Liam looked down and saw the bunny jogging to keep up with him. “Oh, sorry.”

“No problem. You just need to get used to smaller coworkers.” Matt was catching his breath. 

“Mammals have told me that I walk fast even for my own size category.” The hyena was embarrassed that he didn’t consider Matt’s size.

They finally arrived at the big coffee shop. There were a lot of tech and financial companies in the area and the shop was prepared to deal with that amount of mammals. They placed their orders and found an empty table for them to sit. The only available table was for medium size mammals which was perfect for Liam. However Matt couldn’t comfortably use the chair that was next to the table. He looked around to find one for his size . Looking around, Matt spied a mix of oddly shaped chairs shoved into a corner. A small bar stool stuck out at an odd angle which, by Matt’s guess, could easily fit under their table. 

“Liam. Could you get that chair for me?” Matt pointed to it.

“Sure.” Liam brought it closer. It had steps on its side from Matt to climb on without any trouble.

“It’s the first time that I’ve needed to use one of these. It’s rather comfortable. Maybe we should suggest to the boss that he should buy a few of those. The table that we are using at the kitchen is way too big for us and much too small for you.” Matt sat comfortably but looked like a kit at the adult's table.

“That is the essence of a good compromise. No one is happy. But we should be able to convince him to buy a table for my size with chairs for you. He is desperate to show how progressive he is. Table like that would be a cheap and effective move.” Liam admitted. 

“Hm… I am wondering what else we can get out of him based on that.” Matt noticed that several mammals at the coffee shop watched them carefully.

“I wouldn’t overdo it. It should be easy to get funding for specific problems that our team will have.”

“Speaking of specific problems,” Matt began, his voice full of hope. “I visited Kyle yesterday. Since you are my canine expert could you explain his behaviour to me?” 

Liam smirked. “No problem. Though, you do know that I am technically more feline than canine so you choosing me as your expert really just means you have no other predators to ask.” 

“O-of course.” Matt stuttered and his ears were red from embarrassment. 

“Don’t worry about it.” He waved his hand dismissively. “It’s a common mistake. ” 

“Ok but I am still sorry. Anyway, yesterday I tried to play with Kyle. I was bouncing a ball against the wall to get him to chase it and I thought it was working initially. He seemed interested but stopped himself. He just watched and was getting more and more uncomfortable.” 

Liam nodded as Matt explained. The bunny seemed to be making himself more and more worried with each word he spoke. It was kind of endearing to see the rabbit get so worked up over something like this.

“It was probably awkward for him to play with a prey but he should know the rules. He should chase after the ball even with you around.” He paused for a second, thinking. “Where did you get your tennis ball? Maybe it was a cheap one and the chemical smell was off putting. You have to consider smells when it comes to canines. In general you should get canine safe balls. Ones that are not designed for canines could make him feel sick after playing with them.”

“Tennis balls? Rules? And how can you get sick from a tennis ball?” Matt furrowed his brow confused.

“What kind of ball were you using?” 

“One of the balls they have at the orphanage. It’s a big soft rubber one that’s really light and safe for kits. Bunny kits like kicking things so it’s soft enough that it wouldn’t hurt a kit if it hit him accidentally because it is mostly filled with air.”

“Oh, I see what happened.” He laughed quietly. Few mammals around them smiled as they heard him laughing. 

“Can you tell me?” Matt asked, desperate to know what he was getting wrong.

Leaning over, the hyena’s face turned a little more serious. 

“How committed are you to helping that kit? You might not like the answers but you will understand him better.”

“I want him to have a better life.” Liam narrowed his eyes, feeling as if Matt wasn’t answering his question.

“Matt, Liam.” A female cheetah called as their orders were ready. 

The hyena studied Matt's face. Matt lowered his ears, not sure what was happening but didn’t turn his eyes away. Liam’s intense stare kept him in place. Finally, Liam sighed,got up from their table, and approached the waiting cheetah, smiling apologetically.

“I hate to be doing this but we got a call and we need to get back now. Could you put our orders in cups to go and bag our pastries?” 

“No problem. It happens all the time.” With practiced precision, she took back their orders and prepared them to go.

Matt, still seated at the table, worried to himself that he had somehow offended Liam. He jumped off his seat and joined the hyena. Soon the cheetah was back with their orders.

“Here are your orders. Have a good day, Jester.” She smiled and winked at Liam. The hyena froze for a second and laughed awkwardly.

“Thanks.” Matt said and took their orders. He handed Liam his bigger cup and that got the hyena to move.

Liam led them out of Snarlbucks. He was nervously scratching his cup and was looking down. He took a deep breath and shook his head. The hyena looked at Matt with a determination and started walking in a different direction than the one that they came from. 

“I need to show you something and that should answer all of your questions from the coffee shop. It is a small detour.” 

After a few turns they arrived at a tall hedge and walked next to it. They were sounds of laughter coming from the other side of the hedge. It was not hard to figure out that it was some kind park and the hedge was used as walls so mammals inside could have privacy. Matt got nervous when he read the sign next to the entrance ‘Park for Predators.’

“Don’t worry. You are with me so you can come in.” He said casually, walking into the park as the rabbit followed nervously. 

Matt looked up at the sign again, feeling the nerves spread around his body. He’d never been to a predator-only park. He had always wondered what they were like. Were they so different from prey-only ones? He’d passed a few every now and again, but had never seen inside. The hedges that surrounded them blocked out any nosey prey mammals who would want to peek in.

“Come on. You wanted to learn how canines play.” Liam encouraged, seeing the bunny frozen to the spot by the gateway.

Steeling himself, Matt loudly swallowed down his fear, and walked in. The hedge continued on the both sides of the path as they walked in. It was like walking through a hallway. There was a wall at the end and opening on both sides of the path. Following Liam, Matt entered the predator park proper. 

After all that anticipation, Matt was disappointed. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but it all somehow felt a little anticlimactic. It just looked like a normal park. It had large open areas and few playgrounds. It was also empty. It was the middle of a work day so most kids were at school. The only odd things were hedges that were planted in a square shape with one entrance to get inside. Matt’s ears pricked up as he heard the sounds of faint cheering coming from one in the far corner. He looked at Liam who was his guide, who lifted his head and sniffed.

“There are few canine families who live round here so it’s probably one of them. We should find the loudest.” The hyena smiled and walked in the direction where he smelled canines. 

As they approached, Matt’s sensitive ears began to pick up laughing and giggling. In the open area there was an adult timber wolf with three pups, all of whom were so wrapped up in playing that they didn’t notice the hyena and bunny approach. The father was tossing a ball and pups were chasing eagerly after it. Matt didn’t see the details from up far. Then Liam stepped in front of the bunny and all Matt could see was Liam’s back. 

“Stay behind me until we get closer so they wouldn’t notice you.” Liam whispered. “That way, you’ll see how they play up close and they may think the rabbit smell is just something weird on a hyena.” 

When they got a little closer, Liam leaned slightly out of the way so Matt could get a peek. The three pups were running around their father as he was holding the tennis ball. They were all beaming. There was something unsettling about their smiles but the bunny couldn’t place what was it. He only saw those smiles for a split second before a shiver ran down his spine. When the dad tossed the ball, his pups chased after it. At first it seemed not too dissimilar to when bunnies chased after a ball, but when they got closer, they dived forward. The pup that was in front opened his mouth, his sharp white teeth flashing in the midday sun. The other two pups behind the other leaped forward too, their sharp claws showing, as they tried to get ahold of the ball before their brother could bite it. They tumbled to the ground in a heap and, in all the commotion, it was anyone’s guess who had got the ball. The boys, and the dad, were all laughing as one of the pups emerged victorious, ball in mouth and tail wagging away happily. The boy, proud of his victory, shook the ball in his paw, his teeth shining as he bit down on the soft fabric. Seeing this, Matt squeaked, his ears dropping and his nose was twitching. 

The father looked back when he heard the noise, his eyes going wide as he saw the scared bunny. The pups were running back to him, all smiling from ear to ear and panting, their teeth were exposed. Quickly, the father crouched in front of them and spoke hurriedly, pointing towards the bunny. At the same time boys clamped their mouths shut and one of them had folded his ears back. Even from where Matt was standing, he could see how uncomfortable they all looked.

Finally he stood up and tossed the ball again. Boys ran after the ball. However they behaved differently. They didn’t dive for the ball and tried to catch the ball with their paws rather than claws and teeth. Their energy seemed to dip but they were still enjoying it. The pups were still panting but their mouths were only slightly parted so their lips covered their teeth. When pups were focused on the ball, the wolf looked back. His gaze went to the hyena, giving him a disapproving look. Liam held his gaze before signalling they were moving on. The father, his face unchanged, merely nodded in reply and returned to his boys. 

“We should get back to work. Our lunch break is almost over.” Putting a paw on Matt’s shoulder, he began to lead the bunny out of the park. Matt could only nod and follow his lead, with his heart and head racing after what he saw. 

***

“Matt?” Tom said as he was giving the bunny some grilled vegetables.

They were sitting in Tom’s backyard. Martha was standing next to the grill and kits were kicking the ball around. It was a nice two-story house located in the Meadowlands. The house was big enough that each kit would have their own room when they would grow up. They were getting to that age when they would want their own space. Matt was watching kits play when Tom’s voice brought him back to reality.

“Thanks.” He smiled weakly and slowly turned towards the table.

“Is everything alright?” Martha asked, a concerned look on her face as she placed. ketchup and mustard on the table.

“Yeah, I’m just tired. I didn’t sleep well.” Matt took a bite of his vegetables. “This is delicious!”

“It was supposed to be a thank you dinner so I went all out. I am glad that you like it.” Martha beamed with pride.

“She is the best cook.” Tom confirmed and playfully punched his wife’s shoulder. Martha giggled and returned the gesture with her own double punch.

“You’re so cute together.” Matt smiled as he watched the couple.

“I picked the best guy to be my husband.” Martha ran her paw on Tom’s ears and went back to the grill. Tom watched her walk away with dreamy eyes. 

“Should I leave and take kits with me so you can have some alone time?” Matt teased, pointing at Tom’s bright red ears.

“There is no need for that.” Tom muttered embarrassed, hiding his telltale ears behind his back. 

“Are you sure? You know that I don’t mind kitsitting. A romantic date would be great for you two.” Matt grinned, his joy increasing as Tom’s face turned a nice shade of pink.

“You just want to eat more food prepared by my wife.” Tom teased back.

“You got me.” Matt giggled, lifting his paws in mock surrender.

“You’re finally back in a good mood.” 

“I just had a lot on my mind recently.”

“Did something happen during the lunch break? You looked as if you’d seen a ghost or something afterwards. Has Liam done something? Do… Do you need help?” 

“No! Liam is a great guy. You don’t have to worry about him. I… I just realized something.” Matt bit his lip, unsure how to broach the topic.

“Yeah?” Tom motioned with his hand for the bunny to continue.

“When was the last time that you saw a predator's teeth?” 

Tom chuckled. “Is that all? God, it must have been the last horror movie I saw.I love horror movies! They always show a good close-up shot on them when the bad guy is a predator. It is an effective tactic for a jumpscare.” 

“When was the last time that you saw a predator’s teeth in person?” 

Tom’s thought for a moment. “I mean, every day at lunch. We eat with Liam all the time.”

“Yes, but have you ever seen his teeth?” Tom opened his mouth to answer but stopped and his brow furrowed.

“You know, I don’t think I have ever seen them. He tilts his head down before every bite.” Tom was thinking. “Ehm… I… Oh, I know! In highschool there was a cougar that was a bully and liked to scare us with his teeth. He got in a lot of trouble because of that.”

“Today was the first time for me… That’s just crazy.” Matt shook his head in shock at the revelation.

“You’re just overthinking it.” Tom waved his hand dismissively. “It’s probably impolite to show your teeth in public or something like that. I am sure it was just an accident.”

Matt nodded slowly but, somehow, the answer didn’t quite satisfy him. It didn’t feel right that an honest smile from a predator pup could be considered an accident. For the rest of the visit, Matt tried to carry on as normal, chatting away to Tom and Martha, and playing with their kits, but the thought, now burrowed into his brain, would not go away.


	6. Things that we don’t talk about

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you TheUnaccomplishedWriter for being a fantastic editor.

“I’m fine. You don’t have to worry about me, Mrs Fields.” Matt, his ears red from embarrassment, was at the front door talking with an older goat who was carrying her groceries. “I was just watching a horror movie and didn’t realize how loud my reactions were. I will try to keep it down in the future. I’m sorry I made you worry.”

“That’s ok. The most important thing is that you are fine.” The older goat smiled. “I will let you go back to your movie.”

“Thank you again for checking up on me.”

“Oh, it is not a problem. Have a good day.” 

“You too, Mrs Fields” Matt smiled and closed the door.

He went back to the living room. On the tv there was a still frame of a lion roaring, his teeth were visible and covered in blood. Matt assumed it was because he bit someone in a previous scene, but seeing as it was a jumpscare compilation on ZooTube, he couldn’t be sure. Matt sat on the couch and groaned, annoyed. He flopped his head on the back of the sofa and rubbed his eyes.

“Why is it so difficult?” He asked the empty room.

It was a Wednesday afternoon and he was trying to get over his fear. It started simple. He looked for clips of predators smiling. He found plenty of clips from popular movies but every single time a predator smiled, their mouths were closed, not even showing a hint of teeth. It made sense. Prey outnumbered predators so, of course, the big studios would make movies that appealed to them. With the movies being a bust, the bunny had turned to the internet and, after a little bit of searching had finally arrived upon the jumpscare compilations. 

He knew that those mammals couldn’t hurt him. They were actors but his heart was racing each time that he saw those teeth told him otherwise. He squeaked a few times but didn’t realize how loud he was being until he heard the frantic knocking on his front door. At least he knew that his neighbor cared about him. 

He looked back at the still image and pondered for a moment. Perhaps he was going about it the wrong way. He had to normalize it. Jumpscares were designed to be intense so, logically, he should take the fear factor out of it. Reaching for the remote, hemuted the TV and walked away to make dinner. When he was far away enough, he started the clip again so it would flash in the background where he could see it from the kitchen. Without the music and sound effects, it was already less scary, but there was still a familiar knot of discomfort in his stomach. 

He was taking ingredients out of the fridge when the phone rang. Picking it up, he saw his mother’s name flash on the screen. He accepted a request for a muzzletime, smiling as he saw the older brown bunny with green eyes.

“Hi, Mom.”

“Hello sweetie. It is so good to see you. I still can’t get used to seeing you without the glasses but I know that it’s a big city fashion choice.”

“Mom…” The younger bunny groaned, embarrassed but smiling.

“Well, I thought you looked cute in your glasses. Very grown up. And you should call me more! Most of the time I am the one calling you.” She wittered on, speaking quickly, with her eyes bright and eager. 

“I’ll try mom, I promise. I’m just busy with the work and lately I have a lot on my mind.” 

“That's fine. I know that my older kits don't need me anymore.” She pressed her paw to her chest, feigning hurt. “Luckily for me, I have brand new grandkits to take care of.”

“Oh my gosh! That’s great! Did everything go well?” Matt replied excitedly. 

“Wonderfully! Claire did so well. Mark fainted, of course, but your father was there to help him. Your brother was always lightheaded. They have five kits. Three girls and two boys.” Her entire being radiated with pride, the matriarch practically shining with joy at the addition of more bunnies to the clan.

“That’s fantastic. I’ll have to visit you guys soon so I can meet my new nieces and nephews.”

“Yes. It has been far too long since your last visit. Also, with Mark having kits, you are now the only one from your litter that hasn’t given me grandkits yet.”

“I know, Mom. I am working on it. I already got the licence. I just have to wait. I can’t really speed it up.” Matt lowered his ears, feeling self-conscious. 

“I know sweetie. I’m just teasing you. I’m sure that you will get your kits in no time.” She smiled warmly. “ So are the things at the orphanage going. Are you still helping them?”

“Yeah. It’s going great.” Matt paused for a few seconds. “I am helping a disabled kit.”

“Oh, wow! That’s interesting. Can you tell me more about them?” 

“He’s feral. As in his legs aren’t fully developed so he walks on all fours. They don’t have money for therapy for him and no one seemed to care so I decided to help him.” 

“So what is he like?” She asked, his mother clearly digging for information. It was the first time he’d talked about a specific kit from the orphanage so he wasn’t too surprised. 

“I don’t know, I’ve only met him three times. We just watched cartoons together when I visited.”

“I’m sure that you can give me more than that.”

“His name is Kyle. He’s seven years old. He’s a bit of a loner because of his disability. He has his own room as well and he stays in it most of the time.. The first time that I visited him he hid under the bed. He doesn’t talk a lot. To be honest, he’s only said one thing to me so far and that was only because I tricked him. I’m trying to get him to play with me so he can move more and build up his strength. ” Matt's face lit up as he was talking about the fox kit.

“Hmm… Stairs at our house have a rather gentle incline so he should be fine moving around it.” She teased.

“Mom!”

“What? I know that you wanted younger kits but it seems that you care about that boy. He’s already at the age when you can separate him from his littermates, and in any case, it sounds like he doesn’t have a strong bond with them anyway. He’s already doing well with his own room. It is a good solution for you both.” 

“I can’t…” Matt stalled, unable to say that the kit they were talking about was a fox. Thinking quickly, his mind brought up another issue to talk about. 

“I am scared of him. I know that he’s just a kit and he didn’t choose how he looks but everytime I see him my heart starts beating like a jackhammer. It’s so stupid. I don’t know why I am reacting so badly. I only decided to help him because I felt guilty about how I reacted the first time we met. I don’t know if I should do it anymore.” He looked away from the phone, embarrassed.

His mother frowned into her phone’s camera. “So your solution to avoid hurting him is abandoning him.” 

“No. I just don’t think that I am the right person for the job if I can’t get over his unusual body shape. It’s better to decide before he gets too attached.” He bit the lower lip and images of the wolf pups playing flashed in his mind.

“But you are trying to help him despite that. You said it yourself: ‘ _No-one has tried before_.’ I know it may sound harsh but he is probably used to that. Kits can pick up on things like that. Which also means that he can tell that you care about him. Does it really matter that much how it started? I am sure that you will get used to him, love him for who he is, and adopt him all the same.”

He sighed with a smile. “Are you really this desperate to have grandkits from me?” 

“Obviously!” She laughed. Matt felt that some kind of weight was taken off his shoulders.

“You will have to wait. I’m just planning to make it easier for him to get adopted.” He said with determination.

“Your plan doesn’t exclude my plan. Keep me updated about him.” She teased, before a sudden crash emanated from the background.

“Is there everything alright?” 

“Kits are doing something. I need to check on them. I do have one question before I leave, though.” She lowered her ears,looking uncomfortable. “I saw on Emma’s Muzzlebook that you have a hyena coworker. Does…does he laugh normally?”

“Yes.” Matt blinked, unsure what she was getting at. 

“Great! I was worried about that.” She smiled, seeming relieved.. “I need to go check on kits. I love you.”

“I love you too.” He replied before his mum ended the call.

He stared at the black screen for a few seconds. He put the phone in his pocket. With a new determination he put the ingredients back in the fridge. The bunny grabbed his car keys and headed out of his apartment.

***

“This is just crazy.” He thought as he stood in front of the massive wall filled with tennis balls.

It was his first time in the canine section of a sports store. In the prey sections there were only 2 types of tennis balls: cheap and expensive. Pretty simple, really. In contrast, Matt wasn’t even sure how these balls were organized. For sure it wasn’t based on price. The only thing that he noticed was a small symbol of a wolf head on each ball that probably let mammals know that they were safe for canines. However that symbol had different colors and sometimes there were additional symbols around it which only left the bunny even more puzzled.. 

“Hello, sir. You are in the canine section. Prey section is that way.” Matt looked to the side and saw a female antelope in a shop uniform smiling at him. She seemed to be around his age. “You will find balls for you there.”

“Oh, no… I… I am buying them for my canine friend.” He said shyly, his ears turning pink.

The antelope seemed a touch surprised, her eyes widening a smidge, before her trained polite smile returned to her face. “Then you are in the right section. Has your friend told you what symbol and color they wanted?” 

“No. It is supposed to be a gift. I didn’t know how big the selection was.” 

The antelope slightly shifted her weight. “In that case I will get one of our canine employees to help you.”

She went to the different area of the shop where a young coyote was stacking shelves. He listened to what she was saying and was nodding a lot. The boy got visibly nervous as he followed her back to the bunny. She stopped a few feets away and let him approach the customer. The coyote looked to be around 17 years old. It was easy to tell that he hadn’t been working there for a long time. 

“H…Hello sir. How can I help you?” He said with a shaky voice.

“I want to buy tennis balls for my friend as a gift and I don’t know which one to pick.” Matt answered.

They stood in awkward silence. The coyote opened his mouth to say something a few times but seemed to change his mind every time. Finally he figured out a polite question to ask. “Do you know the game that they are going to use it for?”

“Was it really so impolite to talk with a prey about biting?” Matt thought, seeing the coyote’s visible discomfort and mental gymnastics he was performing. “How many more things do predators do to accommodate prey?”

The bunny looked around to see if anyone was nearby. It was a slow day at the store and no one was shopping in that area. Despite that he motioned for the coyote to lean forward so he could tell him something private. 

“We are going to play catch. You know the kind of catch that you play at the predator park. I am looking for something that he can safely bite.” Despite the confidence in his words,Matt’s ears had turned a bright red. 

The coyote leaned back, surprised. “Really?”

Matt nodded, doing his best to seem confident and comfortable. With that boy’s behaviour changed. He relaxed, smiled, and started gently wagging his tail. 

“Could you tell me about your friend?”

“He is a seven year old fox. I’m helping to take care of him at the orphanage. I’m trying to get him to exercise more to build up his strength.” Matt said, hoping that it was enough for the clerk to work with. The coyote seemed impressed and nodded. He went to the far right section of the wall.

“For young kits, it is recommended to buy things with the highest safety certification.” He pointed at the green wolf head symbol. Then he leaned towards the bunny “As a gift I would suggest something with a neutral scent and taste. For him it is even better because he would get his scent on them even quicker. Other kits would know whose balls they are. You can pick something specific when you will know what he likes.”

The ball that the coyote suggested just had a green one symbol on it. Other balls in that area also had other smaller symbols next to the wolf head. There were candy, a tree, a bug, wings and fish symbols. Matt listened to the boy and picked the three-pack of different colored balls that he suggested. 

“Thank you for your help.”

“It is not a problem. Have a good day, sir.” He smiled and went back to his previous job. The antelope smiled at him as he passed by, pleased with his performance. Matt, paying at the counter and taking the plastic bag with his purchase, headed back home.

***

Liam was fighting really hard to not just bust up laughing. He was holding his mouth closed with his paws and had trouble breathing. Matt groaned annoyed.

“I just didn’t expect my reactions to be so loud. I guess predatory sounds coming from my apartment also had something to do with it. It’s still nice that she checked on me.” Matt was tapping his foot in frustration as Liam composed himself.

“Well. It was a jumpSCARE compilation. So it did what it was supposed to do.” The hyena pointed out.

“What else could I do? I hadn’t noticed that predators don’t show teeth in regular movies until I started looking for it.”

“You could try porn. They are not afraid to show their teeth there.” Liam smirked as Matt’s ears went red.

“Oh no. That is a step too far.” 

“Come on, it is really the easiest way to see predator’s teeth in a movie. Also you have to be at least curious about it.” Liam wiggled his eyebrows. “Emma would be so proud of you.”

“I prefer sticking to bunnies, thank you.” Matt furrowed his brow. “Wait, does it mean that you have watched prey porn?”

Liam’s smirk diminished as he laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head as he looked away. “Yeah, I was curious.”

“I-I am not.” Matt denied, his own ears burning.

Liam looked around the office space to make sure that they were still alone at the office. It was still early in the morning.

“There is another way for you to see predator’s teeth.” Liam gave Matt a big smile with his teeth showing. The bunny squeaked and his nose started twitching. It took him a second to compose himself.

“I need to at least get rid of me squeaking everytime I see teeth. I can’t be squeaking in front of the kit. I don’t need to stop being scared. I just don't want to show it as much.”

“You can play with him without biting the ball.” Liam suggested. “That’s how cubs play at school.”

“I know. I just… I want him to feel comfortable and have fun, you know? And the version with biting seems more fun. Kyle deserves to have some fun.”

Liam was taken aback a little, impressed by Matt’s determination. The hyena wanted to help him to succeed so there was only one option that came to mind.   
  
“Would you like to come to a board game night at my apartment?”

A little confused by the sudden change of topic, the bunny’s looked at the hyena curiously. 

“Sure, that could be fun. But, why are you asking about it now?” 

“My group has three wolfs and a tigress. I can tell them what you are trying to do so they would behave normally around you. Of course, I will have to see if they are cool with it first.”

“I’m not sure if I am ready for that many big predators in one room.” Matt’s heart started racing just thinking about it.

“I’m sure that you will be fine. I’ll be there and you like me already.” Liam gave him another toothy smile which made Matt squeak before turning into a groan of frustration. “If that makes you feel any better, two of them are police officers. You will be super safe.”

It really was a generous offer. He wouldn't get a chance to interact with this many predators everyday. Plus, Matt couldn’t deny that he had missed playing board games so it was a win-win situation. Liam’s honest smile was really disarming and, despite his reservations, he couldn’t help but push aside his fears.

“Ok. I will be happy to play some games with your group.”

“Great! Give me your number. I will talk with them today and let you know.” Liam pulled out his phone and started adding a new contact.

“Oh, was this just an elaborate way for you to get my number?”

“You wish.” Liam laughed as they exchanged numbers. Liam’s laugh reminded Matt about the conversation that he had last night. “I could just ask Emma. She would give it to me, no questions asked.”

“Yeah Emma is like a contact hub. I’m not sure how she’s doing. She has visited Bunnyburrow just once. She ended up as a Muzzlebook friend with most of my family in just one day!”

“We just have to hope that she won’t use that power for evil.” 

“I don’t think that we should worry about it. My mom on the other hand is using Emma’s Muzzlebook page to spy on me.” Matt sighed. 

“She wouldn’t have to spy on you if you would call her often enough.”

“That’s almost exactly what she said to me!” The bunny exclaimed, before squinting his eyes. “Hey! You’re supposed to be on my side.”

“I don’t remember agreeing to anything like that.” The hyena said with a grin. 

“She has asked about you before I was able to tell her that I have a hyena coworker. That’s just weird.”

“It's a regular parent thing so don’t feel too special.” Liam paused and scratched his paw. “Was she worried that you work with a hyena?”

“I don’t think so. She did ask me a weird question, though. She wanted to know how you laugh. I’m not sure why...” Looking up at the hyena, Matt saw Liam’s jovial face morph into sourness and sadness in an instant. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know that it was a sensitive topic. Just forget that I said anything”

“No. It’s fine.” He sighed. “It is also kind of stupid.” 

“Liam. You really don’t hav…” 

“Do you know the BC character Jester?” Liam interrupted, catching the rabbit offguard. 

“Err, yeah. She’s that white hyena with green mohawk, right? She’s a pretty cool villain.”

“Yes. The problem is that her ‘hysterical’ laugh is just a natural hyena laugh. So hyenas that laugh casually started to be associated with a psychotic killer that abuses her boyfriend. It has been going on since her first appearance”. 

Matt sat in stunned silence. He hadn’t even considered these facts, let alone realised how hyenas were so negatively affected by them. With a melancholic look in his eyes, Liam continued.

“We have a rather unique laugh so hyenas who didn’t want to be judged stopped laughing like that in public. What’s even worse is that hyenas that joined gangs started to use that laugh like a warcry to intimidate people. Sadly, a lot of hyenas are in gangs so mammals think that our natural laugh means we’re in a gang. ”

Matt looked at Liam, shocked. He couldn’t believe that something as simple as laughter could be stolen from him. Society was all about the perception but he hadn't realized how extreme it was.

“I alway have to hold back. Sometimes, I even laugh randomly, more - normally - so mammals would relax around me.” 

“That was the reason why you said that joke at the beginning of our job interview. I noticed that Mr. Parker relaxed after that.” Matt said, realisation washing over him.

“It’s hyena’s job interview tactic 101. Mammals don’t want to deal with gangs at their workplace. I had to show I wasn’t dangerous or some ex-gang member or whatever. It’s a part of being a hyena. You get used to it.”

“That is just stupid.” Matt couldn’t help but blurt out, feeling indignant for Liam.

“It’s how the world works.You are a c-word bunny and I am a gang member when I laugh. Sadly, in the case of hyenas, we did it to ourselves.But, in a weird way, it also got more precious because we only get to share it with our family.”

As Liam smiled weakly and returned to his work, Matt stared off into the middle distance, the realisation of how little he knew about other species troubles, how much mammals needed to compromise to live in a society, started to dawn on him.


	7. Games that We Play

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you Midlou for being a great beta reader!

Matt checked his phone again to make sure he was at the right address. He was standing in front of a nice apartment building in Savannah Central. It was in a good location, close to the metro and shopping centers. It also had a good connection to their office building. The building had a modern design that fit with Savannah Central’s aesthetic. Matt took the elevator to the second floor and it didn’t take long for him to find the right apartment.

He stood in front of the door, not ready to knock. He could still just turn back and leave. Liam’s idea was great. Spending a few hours should get him used to being around them. However when Saturday finally arrived Matt got really nervous. He wasn’t sure if he was able to do it. He had the best intentions but five big predators was too much for him. His legs felt weak and his heart was racing.

“I’m going to play catch with Kyle this Monday without squeaking.” He told himself firmly to boost his resolve. It really was the fastest way to get where he wanted to be. With a shaky hand he knocked on the door. 

The door opened and Matt was greeted by Liam with a toothy smile. “Hello. It’s nice to see you. I hope it was easy to find this place.”

Matt squeaked loudly and his ears dropped. His nose was twitching. Giggling was coming from inside of the apartment. It was just Liam who made him squeak and Matt was going to meet another four predators. He immediately imagined the panic that it would induce. He needed to leave. For a second he could say a word and stood there with a mouth opened. Liam closed his mouth seeing how badly the bunny reacted. 

“I am sorry. I can’t do it. It is just too much for me. I am sorry for bothering you.” Matt started to turn around but Liam put his paw on the bunny’s shoulder

“Relax. It’ll be fine. You have nothing to worry about. You have already come this far so you may as well at least try.” The hyena gave a reassuring smile this time without teeth. Liam stepped aside and with a slight push, gently encouraged the bunny to come inside. 

The hyena was doing his best to help him but in the end it was Matt’s decision. Matt’s gaze rested on Liam’s friendly muzzle and the bunny’s heart slowed down. He had rarely made eye contact with predators before meeting Liam. He had never imagined that predator’s muzzle would bring him feelings of comfort and safety. It was the best environment to get over his fears. He owed it to Kyle to at least try. He took a deep breath and walked in. 

The apartment was made for mammals bigger than Matt. Everything was upscaled. Next to the entrance was a kitchen that opened into a living room. A big table was set up with snacks and a game on top of it. Next to the table sat two giggling timber wolves. They were both different shades of brown and around the same age as the hyena.

“Liam had said you would make that noise but I wasn’t expecting it to be so cute.” The lighter wolf said as he stood up to greet the bunny. 

“Hey. You can’t call bunnies cute!” The darker wolf punched the lighter one in the shoulder and gave him a dirty look. He also stood up to greet Matt.

“Right! I completely forgot. Sorry for that.” He gave the nervous bunny an apologetic smile and extended his paw. “My name is James.”

“My name is William.” The second wolf also extended his paw. “Sorry for my airheaded brother. Sometimes I wonder how he passed all his exams.”

They were both about head taller than Liam and slightly more chubby. Matt didn’t feel comfortable having big clawed paws so close to him but felt a gentle reassuring squeeze on his shoulder. He looked to his side and to his embarrassment, Liam was still holding his shoulder. He ignored it for now and extended his paw for a paw shake. Wolves had to lean down and the bunny reached way above his head.

“It’s fine. I don’t mind. My name is Matt. It's nice to meet you.” Matt smiled weakly. 

There was a loud knock and Liam finally let go of Matts’ shoulder and he went to open the door. Matt looked back to see who it was and froze. Liam was greeting a grey timberwolf and a massive tigress. The bunny knew that a tigress was going to play with them but he had never been so close to one. She was towering over all the mammals in the room. 

“Hi! Come in, come in.” Liam stepped to the side as he took bags of snacks from them.

It was a warm day so all of them were wearing some type of shorts and t-shirt combo. However on the tigress and the new wolf it showed how well they were built. Matt half expected them to be a stereotypical chubby doughnut loving police officers. They exchanged hugs with guys from the apartment before they noticed the shocked bunny.

“You must be Matt. Liam has told us a lot about you. My name is Nadine.” She said sweetly. She rested one of her paws on her knee to support herself as crouched and extended her paw to him.

When Matt saw a massive paw coming towards him, he quickly moved back until he hit a drawer behind him with a loud thud. Everyone in the room froze and had their eyes on the bunny. The hit snapped Matt out of his panicked state of mind and the bunny realized what he had done. He looked from the clawed paw to Nadine’s face and saw a sadness behind her eyes. She pulled her paw back and made it into a fist to hide her claws. Behind her the angry wolf was trying his best to keep his expression neutral. Liam looked very worried as he tried to judge everyone's reaction. Matt hung his head low in shame. The bunny knew that he was safe but reacted as if his life was in danger.

“I’m sorry.” Matt finally said and looked Nadine in the eyes. His ears hung behind his back and he smiled softly “Normally when something so big is moving so close to me it means an upcoming car or a danger of being stepped on. I reacted before I could think. I didn’t mean anything by that.”

Everyone in the room looked at Nadine as if they tried to figure out how to react to the whole situation. In Matt’s head the worst case scenario played out where she was angry at him. The new wolf would undoubtedly follow the tigress’ decision. James and Willam would side with the wolf and he would get kicked out of the apartment. However she slowly flicked her tail and smiled.

“Sorry. I haven’t thought about that. I’ll remember next time.” Nadine was satisfied with Matt’s reason. She extended her paw again but this time moved much slower.

The bunny made a sigh of relief and felt weak in his knees as if he just defused a bomb. Matt shook her massive paw by grabbing her finger. During thet whole exchange the new wolf was watching the tigress to make sure that she was ok. When her mood improved, his tail wagged gently. 

“My name is Ralph.” He shook Matt’s paw.

“I think that we should get to the table. We’ve a long game ahead of us.” Liam suggested.

They all nodded and took their seats around the table. There was one chair with a smaller chair on top of it. It could only be meant for the bunny. Matt was really touched that they were so accommodating for him. He hopped on it and finally saw what game they picked. Game components were so much bigger than he was used to. He was also hit with the unusual scent of the snacks that were prepared. Those had to be some predator snacks.

“Battlesun Galactica. I love this game.” Matt got excited. “However I’m not sure if you can make a good first impression with a game that has a traitor mechanic.”

“Chill out. We’re all adults here. No one will get mad about it.” Willam said as he was shuffling cards. 

“You can walk on the table when you need to pick something up. We don’t mind.” James said, pulling plastic ships from the box. 

“Just avoid standing next to snacks. Or you’ll end up as one.” Liam teased and at the same time, with a swift turn of a head, everyone looked at Matt to see his reaction. Matt had to admit that a few weeks ago he would probably call cops on a predator who talked like that. However it was Liam and it was just a stupid joke. 

“I was so nervous about meeting you that I’ve forgotten to bring any snacks. So it’s only fair to offer myself as one.” Matt's voice was shaky but he tried to act casually. Predators chuckled and relaxed.

“Bunny size snacks wouldn’t last that long. We have potato chips for you to enjoy” Ralph said and reached for crickets. Matt squeaked when Ralph’s teeth flashed. It was quickly followed by a groan of frustration from the same bunny.

“I’m so sorry. I’ll try to get that under control.” Matt looked away annoyed and embarrassed.

“It’s fine. Liam has told us about your problem. It’s great that you’re trying to get used to predators to help a kit.” Nadine smiled softly. “It’s also a good exercise for us because there's a chance we’ll get a bunny police officer. So we can learn something from each other.”

“Really? I have never heard about a bunny police officer.” Matt looked very interested.

“Because there aren’t any currently working. There is a bunny currently at Zootopia Police Academy. We don’t know how well she’s doing.” Ralph shrugged. “Who knows maybe she’ll end up at our precinct.”

“That would be interesting to see. She could be a great asset.” Matt was thinking. “She could get through smaller spaces but she’ll get hurt more easily.”

“That was the main reason why smaller mammals weren’t allowed to be police officers.” Nadine admitted. “Bad guys use the same caliber of bullets, no matter the size of their opponent.”

“She probably understands the risk.” Liam took a sip of his soda. “It happens with all mammals that work in fields that aren’t suited to their body size. It isn’t like anyone is forcing her to do it”

“It was probably the opposite. Mammals tried to discourage her. Most bunnies prefer safer jobs so she would be an odd one for sure.” Matt blinked. “Wait. There was a girl in Bunnyburrow that wanted to be a police officer. She’s a few years younger than me. Maybe it’s her.”

“We don’t know who she is. We only know that there is a bunny at ZPA. If she graduates I am sure that it will be all over the news so you will learn who she is.” Ralph said.

***

“I am not a traitor.” Matt said as his nose was twitching. “I don't have enough cards of that color to make us lose the crisis.”

Atmosphere around the table got really tense after Nadine revealed herself to be a traitor and did a lot of damage to the ship on her way out. Matt was sitting in his chair and was nervously grabbing his knees. Ralph was squinting as he looked at the bunny. The wolf suddenly opened his mouth to show his teeth. After a few hours of playing Matt’s paw almost instinctively went to cover his mouth to stop himself from squeaking. It worked and no sound came out. Ralph tossed his arms in the air annoyed. 

“I can’t tell if you are nervous because you are lying or because you are in the room with big predators or both.” The wolf looked at Liam. “Do you have any hints?”

“Would you believe anything that I say?” The hyena asked with a smirk on his face. No one knew who to trust so mammals didn’t want to share too much information.

“Probably not.” The police officer admitted.

“How are you able to interrogate prey mammals when you can’t tell the difference?” James was casually resolving the damage that the last crisis did to them. Ralph’s gaze shifted to the light brown wolf.

“We just don’t do it. Prey mammals are interrogated by prey police officers. That way it is also easier to account for the cultural differences. Prey mammals are knowledgeable about other prey cultures. ” Nadine explained as her tail flicked happily. The last crisis put her in a very good spot.

“Aren’t you too eager to change the topic?” Ralph said with an accusatory tone.

***

Most of the snacks were already gone. Everyone was intently watching the board game in front of them. Matt heart was racing. He had abandoned his seat an hour ago and was pacing on the table. They could win it if they play it right. He just needed to get them to listen to him. 

“Mister President.” Matt turned to Liam. “We need your executive order.”

“No! We can’t trust him.” James was shouting from the other side of the table.

“Stop talking, you traitor.” Ralph shouted back. 

“I tell you one again. I am not the traitor. Those red cards had to come from the random draw.” James was visibly annoyed.

“Yes but that happened way too many times.” William added.

“Nadine’s turn is next and we already know that she’s a traitor.” Matt tried to use the logic. Nadine waved and gave them an evil smile. “And after that it’s James’ turn. We can’t allow that to happen. We’re surrounded by enemy’s ships. We won't survive until my turn. We need to jump right now and if we are lucky we can win with that.”

Everyone waited for Liam’s decision that could end the game. Liam looked from mammal to mammal to see any hint that they wanted to betray him. Risk was too great to allow traitor and potential traitor to have their turns. Enemy ships were around them and Galactica was heavily damaged. The hyena needed to do something.

“Ok admiral. You have my executive order.” Liam pulled out the card and slammed it on the table. 

Matt looked at Nadine and smiled. At first she was confused but soon her smile widened. “I would like to send a nuke to sector seven.”

“Wait, you were supposed to jump. That is the sector with civilian ships.” The hyena stared blankly at the bunny. “You are the traitor!”

“I have been telling you that from the beginning!” James shouted while pointing his finger at Liam.

Matt went to sector seven and flipped all ships to see what they lost. “You lost all your fuel. You can’t jump. You lost.”

“Yes!” Nadine pumped her fist up in victory. Then she gave Matt a toothy smile and held her hand close to the table.

Matt ran across the table and slammed his small paws against her massive one in their weird version of the high five. After a moment of shock everyone started laughing. 

“Next time don’t act like a traitor so we could win.” Ralph said to James.

“I already told you. We were just unlucky with red cards. You just didn’t want to listen.” 

“I have to admit that I wasn’t suspecting you.” William admitted. “You were giving use good advice.”

“Yes. But I was also burning useful cards when I didn’t need to. You just couldn’t tell because you didn't know which card belonged to who.” The bunny explained

“It was nice. I revealed myself early so I can attack you from the outside and he could damage you from the inside.” Nadine said as she was helping to clean the game.

“You did great!” Liam held his paw close to the table to get a high five.

“Thanks!” Matt slammed his paw against Liam’s. The bunny was still high on the adrenaline. 

“Sorry for betraying you. You really could have won with the next jump so I had to do something about it.”

“I totally understand. However it isn’t what I am talking about.” Liam gave him a toothy smile. “You stopped squeaking about a hour ago. You even ran towards a grinning Nadine.”

Matt blinked a few times and looked at Liam. Matt still felt uncomfortable seeing teeth but he didn’t flinch or squeak. The adrenaline was slowly getting weaker and the bunny was getting more nervous with each second. It got to a manageable level “I didn’t even notice. I was so into the game. To be honest I am still scared but it's a nice start. Also I don’t think I would be able to stay quiet around strangers.”

“You just need to be calm around  _ one _ fox. I think that you should be able to do that now.” The hyena patted Matt’s back.

“Thank you again for inviting me. It was a lot of fun even if I was a squeaking mess for most of it.” 

“It isn’t a problem. We should do it again sometime.” 

“For sure.” 

Ralph and Nadine were cleaning the table. Few times their paws brushed against each other as they were putting components back into the box. Each time that happened they smiled shyly and looked away. Liam and two other wolves watched them intently. They seemed very curious about police partners’ interaction. 

“Did something happen?” Matt quietly asked Liam.

“No. They're just curious about their older brother.”

***

  
  


Matt felt the familiar pounding in his chest as he stood in front of Kyle’s door. He hoped that it would disappear after playing board games with predators. Sadly some things aren’t that easy. He was still proud of all the progress he achieved during that day. He still had a long way to go but it was a good start. He took a deep breath to calm himself and adjusted the bag on his shoulder. He knocked.

“Hello, Kyle. It’s Matt. Can I come in?” The bunny asked through the closed door. 

Matt waited for the answer. Another thing that they still needed to work on was communication. During his last two visits the kit had barely spoken to him. It was fine to be shy but good communication made it a lot easier for a kit to be adopted. It would also help him in school. Teachers and kits were watching what he was doing. It was an interesting contrast to see genuine curiosity from kits and confusion from adults. 

“Kyle? Can I come in?” The bunny bit his lower lip. Maybe he was pushing it too much. He shouldn’t ask so much from the boy. Kyle was starting to get comfortable around him and he shouldn’t stress him out with something that he wasn’t comfortable with. Matt put his paw on the door handle to just open the door.

“Yes.” The quiet voice said from inside of the room.The bunny smiled and walked in.

Kyle was sitting on the bed with his back resting on the pillow. His fur was messy as always and curious icy blue eyes followed Matt as he walked in. The chair that normally stood next to the desk was next to the bed. It was the same configuration as the last time that they had watched cartoons together. 

“It’s nice to see you again,” Matt said. He needed to start a conversation if he wanted Kyle to talk to him normally. At least that was the plan. He was pleasantly surprised when Kyle slowly flicked his tail. The motion wasn’t big enough to call it wagging but it was still a win in Matt’s book

“Did you prepare a seat for me so we could watch cartoons together?” The boy nodded eagerly. Matt was lucky that he picked a cartoon that the kit actually liked. It seemed to be a great motivation for Kyle.

“I thought that we could start with playing catch again.” Kyle folded his ears against his head. Matt sighed.

“Yeah. I’m sorry for the last time. I was unprepared. I should have figured out that with your claws would pop the ball and we both would be in trouble.” Matt looked at the claws that still needed trimming.The fox kit lowered his head and looked away from Matt. 

“I’m still learning about foxes so I’m really sorry about my mistake. You should tell me about things like that. That way we will be able to do more fun stuff together.” Kyle wasn’t looking at Matt and was visibly uncomfortable. 

“As an apology I have brought you something.” The fox kit looked at Matt surprised and tilted his head to the side looking confused. 

“At the orphanage they don’t have balls that are safe for you to play with so I got them for you.“ Matt pulled out from his bag a clear tube with three tennis balls in it. Kyle’s eyes went wide in shock. His eyes were moving from balls to Matt’s face and back. He didn’t know where to focus his attention. 

“Which color do you like the best? Yellow, blue or pink?” Matt led his question to remove any assumption that they wouldn't play. He didn’t want to give the kit a chance to have doubt in his mind. He set his bag down next to the door and shaked the tube to focus the fox’s attention on it.

“Yellow.” The boy finally said with a weak voice. 

“Ah, classic. Get out of the bed so we can play.” Matt pulled the ball out of the tube and bounced it against the floor. 

Kyle’s eyes followed the ball. Slowly nervousness was turning into an excitement. The fox slid off the bed. He stood next to it with both paws on it for support. Matt was tossing the ball from one paw to another and anticipation was building in the young fox. He was mesmerised by the ball. It made Matt wonder how long it was since the boy was able to play ball. The bunny gently tossed the ball so it would land a few feets away from Kyle. It bounced several times before it stopped.

The ball sat there, with both the rabbit and fox looking at it. For a moment, Matt thought he would have to get the ball himself before he heard a thud on the wooden floor. The bunny saw Kyle shift forward, his paw still holding onto the frame of the bed tight. Moving a few steps more, Kyle reached out again but the ball was just out of reach of his claws. 

The fox looked at the ball, then Matt, and then his quivering paw. Slowly relinquishing the bed frame, Kyle windmilled his arms as he tried to find balance on the balls of his feet. Steadying himself, the fox tentatively walked towards the ball.

Kyle’s posture was unusual. He was leaning forward and used his arms for balance. As Matt stood straight his bones supported most of his weight and muscles were there just for stabilization. Kyle didn’t have that luxury. Not having a heel to rest his body weight on meant that he couldn’t lock his joints to make it easier on his muscles. He also wasn’t able to stand straight. His knees had to be bent to support a gait that was unusual for his body and the boy’s muscles were doing all the work to stay in that position. Kyle looked like a kit that pretended to be a two-legged dinosaur but didn't have the strength and balance to do it.

He clumsily got to the ball but everything went wrong when he reached for it. He lost his balance and he fell with a loud thud. The young fox looked back at Matt with fear in his eyes and started to panic. He tried to get up quickly by pushing with his arms but couldn’t regain the balance. 

“I’m sorry!” Kyle said with teary eyes and shaky voice as he kept trying to get up.

At first the bunny was confused but when realization hit, Matt’s heart sank and his ears dropped. Several emotions went through his mind but the main one was anger. He took a breath to compose himself. The most important thing was to help the kit that was in front of him. The bunny rubbed his forearm where the boy scratched him. His expression softened as he looked at Kyle. He sat down on the floor away from the fox’s reach. 

“Kyle, relax. It’s ok. You aren’t in trouble.” Matt said with a reassuring smile. The bunny lifted his ears to show that he meant it.

Kyle stopped trying to get up. He was breathing fast as he was watching Matt. The boy’s ears laid flat on his head and his tail was between his legs. He tried to make himself as small as he could without moving away from his spot.

“You can walk on all fours around me. It’ll be much more fun to play if you’re able to run around.”

The fox wasn’t moving and was just watching. The kit was expecting it to be some kind of trick. Matt's words weren’t enough to convince the scared boy. The bunny bit his lower lip and did the first thing that came to his mind. He got on all fours. He hadn't done that since he was a kit. He hopped around to show Kyle that it was really ok.

“See it is fine. I can do it so you can do it too.” Kyle’s eyes went wide in shock and ears shot up.

“Have you ever seen a bunny hopping around? I know that we look silly but not every mammal can be as graceful as a fox on all fours.” Matt tried to defuse the situation with a joke but Kyle wasn’t reacting.

“Can I come closer?” Matt asked, not wanting to spook the kit. 

The boy tried to comprehend what was happening. He didn’t move from his spot, only his ears were moving trying to find out any danger. Finally he just nodded. Matt deliberately was hopping very slowly so the kit could analyze every move and judge if it was fine. Kyle needed much more than just words. When he got closer he slowly spread his arms to hug the kit. Kyle’s head was turning to be vigilant about both arms, trying to figure out what was going on. Matt gently wrapped his arms around the boy and slowly rubbed his back. Kyle didn’t return the hug and was very tense.

“It’s fine. You’re safe with me.” 

Like a melting ice tension was slowly leaving the kit’s body. Matt pulled away and Kyle tilted his head to the side and looked at the bunny with a mixture of confusion and curiosity. Matt smiled and reached for the ball and held it in front of the kit. 

“We should try it again but this time you can run on all fours. You can also bite the ball. I made sure that it is safe for you.” Matt held the ball in front of the kit’s mouth. “You should try it.”

Kyle sniffed the ball. The boy knew that he shouldn’t do it in front of the prey but childish curiosity won and he opened his mouth exposing his teeth. Matt squeezed the ball nervously and his nose started twitching. The fox quickly closed his mouth and took several steps back, away from the bunny. Matt mentally cursed at himself but at least he didn’t squeak. That for sure would spook the kit and things could get much worse. 

“I am sorry. It is an instinctive reaction. I really want to play with you so please ignore that.” Matt smiled apologetically

Kyle looked really confused. His icy blue eyes looked deeply into the bunny’s brown eyes. Matt felt as if the kit was looking at his soul, searching for a lie. Matt got worried that he pushed it too far. It was so outside of the regular interaction that the fox had with prey and it was really confusing him. The fox had issues that Matt wasn’t prepared for. The boy’s nostrils were moving as he was sniffing. Kyle blinked and took a step forward.

“You’re scared.” Kyle said softly with a surprised tone.

“Yes. It’s a prey thing. I am working on it so we could play together. Don’t show your teeth around other prey mammals. They could get scared.” Honesty was the only way to go for Matt. He needed Kyle to trust him.

“Noone wants to play with me.” Kyle said it as if it was a fact and Matt saying nonsense. He furrowed his brow.

“That is not true. I want to play with you. I like you.” Kyle’s eyes shifted from Matt’s face to his right forearm where the fox scratched him. 

“Oh don’t worry about that. I know that you didn’t mean it. It was just an accident. I’m fine.” Matt rolled up his shirt to expose his forearm. Fur already was growing in the shaved area so from a far no one would notice the difference. Up close it was obvious that fur in that area was shorter but scars were thin enough that they didn’t disturb the composition of his fur. He could feel them under his fur but they weren’t noticeable.

“See as good as new.”

For a few seconds Kyle was watching the arm. He was shifting his weight from paw to paw nervously and with a weak voice said. “I-I’m sorry.” 

“It is all right, buddy. I've already forgotten about it.” Matt waved the hand that was holding the ball. “How about we try it one more time? This time time with running on all fours and biting.”

Kyle looked at the ball and then at Matt. He smiled weakly and nodded. Matt sat on the ground and tossed the ball away from them. Kyle took a first step on all fours and looked back at Matt to make sure that it was all right. Matt smiled and nodded to encourage the boy to move. Kyle moved slowly and every few steps he looked back to make sure that he was still fine. He sniffed the ball and slowly opened his mouth. Matt’s heart bit faster but kept smiling. The fox slowly came back to the bunny with a ball in his mouth and ears folded against his head. Matt extended his paw. Kyle looked to it as if he was expecting something more to happen. Finally Kyle moved his muzzle over the paw and dropped the ball into it. Up close Matt could see that Kyle was missing two teeth, right lower fang and upper incisor. 

“Great job! Next try to do it faster so you’ll get the ball while it is still moving. That way it’ll be more of a game rather than just cleaning the room.” Matt laughed softly and Kyle nodded. Matt saw excitement slowly building in the kit’s eyes.

He tossed the ball and that time Kyle ran after it right away. To Matt’s surprise, Kyle was also clumsy when he was moving on all fours. Slow walking was fine but when he added speed to it, the boy wasn’t sure in what order his arms and legs should move. Sometimes he was kicking his arm or was placing his arms and legs in weird positions. But that didn’t discourage him and got to the ball before it stopped. Matt's heart swelled seeing how proud Kyle was that he was able to get the ball while it was moving.

“That was amazing!” Matt rubbed kit’s head when he came back with the ball.

Over time they both were getting used to the situation. Matt was getting more comfortable with seeing teeth and Kyle was getting more comfortable playing with prey. After a few tries Kyle figured out the rhythm of his movement. He was getting faster and more graceful. From time to time he would stumble and fall to the ground but he quickly picked himself up. He was chasing after the ball with a big smile on his face. It was heartwarming. Matt pulled out his phone and took a few pictures. 

After 20 minutes of play, Kyle was panting and his tongue was hanging out. His tail was wagging as he was coming back with the ball in his mouth. Matt noticed that the fox’s legs and arm were shaking slightly. Kyle wasn’t used to that amount of movement so it would be best not to overdo it. 

“You did great!” He took the ball from Kyle and hugged him. The boy was surprised at first but relaxed when he realized what was going on. The fox just stood there and let it happen. “I think that it’s enough running for one day. We can watch one episode of a cartoon before I’ll need to go.”

Kyle nodded eagerly and pulled away from the hug. He quickly got to his spot on the bed. Matt put the ball away with the rest of them. He got his laptop and set it on the bed. After a few clicks the cartoon started playing and Matt sat on the chair next to the bed. This time he set the screen at the right angle. Kyle had done a lot of work that day so Matt didn’t feel the need to make him talk. 

Kyle was smiling as he was enjoying the cartoon. Matt pulled out the phone one more. He wanted to have at least one picture with Kyle. He put the phone in a selfie mode. He made sure that they were both in frame.

“Kyle could you look at my phone?” 

As soon as Kyle’s head turned, Matt snapped a photo of the smiling fox kit and the smiling bunny enjoying their time together. 


	8. Bad mammals

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to ARK, Midlou and Rounix for being my beta readers

“Monica!” Matt shouted to get the white bunny’s attention.

She was going home for the day and Matt had caught her at the parking lot. He was panting when he caught up to her. A determined look was on his face.

“Hi, Matt. Did something happen?” She furrowed her brow. 

“I hope not.” The brown bunny sighed. “Do you have time to chat? I don’t want to hold you up.”

Monica checked her watch. “I can spare you a few minutes. What's up?”

Matt shifted from foot to foot nervously. He bit his lip and lowered his ears. Monica nervously adjusted her purse seeing her friend so distressed. 

“I‘ve bought Kyle tennis balls to play with. I hope that it’s all right.” Matt started nervously

Monica blinked a few times and looked at him in disbelief. She bust out laughing. “That’s all? You almost gave me a heart attack with how serious you were. It’s totally fine. You could have told that to any mammal working at the orphanage.”

She stopped laughing as soon as she noticed that Matt stayed serious. “Kyle should visit a psychologist.” 

“What happened?” Her eyes went wide and ears dropped.

“I… I think that someone has hurt him.” Matt clenched his fists. “In ‘the best case scenario’ some kits were picked on him. I think that it was someone that worked at the orphanage. The way that he looked at me when he fell down. He was so scared to be seen on all fours. I don’t know how to help him with that. The psychologist could do that. Maybe even get him to say who did it.” 

The white bunny grabbed the strap of her purse and held it close to her body. “Even if you’re right, Kyle is a Wildfire. No one will believe him.” 

“What does his surname have anything to do with that!?” He shouted and several mammals turned to look at the commotion.

“Wildfire is a surname you give to a fox kit with an unknown surname. It means that there is no one who could be his character witness from before he got into the system.” 

“So because he was found, his word means less?” Anger rose inside the bunny. How could something like that be allowed?

“No, of course not. It’s just…” The white bunny bit her lip. “Kyle isn’t a good kit.”

“What?” Matt was dumbfounded

“Sometimes when kits get to the orphanage for the first time they misbehave out of frustration. So it’s important to have mammals that knew them before. So it could be proven that the kit’s just frustrated and the issue that he‘s talking about is real...” She spoke quickly as if she was trying to get her point across before Matt would stop her. 

“But he’s always so well behaved when I visit him.” 

Matt shivered when Monica looked at him with pity. Matt swallowed loudly. He had known her for a long time and knew that she wouldn’t lie to him. However he wasn't ready for what she was going to say to him. 

“Matt. I know that you like him but you see him for an hour each week and watch cartoons with him. We have to deal with him the rest of the time. We can’t get him to do his homework, clean his room or clean himself. Do you know how much of a scent mask we’re using to get rid of his musk? We just decided that it’s easier to use it than trying to get him to do anything. We can clean his room for him but you have to notice how messy he is. We are lucky that he just wants to stay in his room because I seriously doubt that he would listen to anything that we have to say.” 

“No one has given him a chance! That’s why he’s behaving like that.” He tried to defend the kit. 

“That could be true but all that we know about him is in his file. It says he’s a scratcher with a history of violence and misbehaving. Matt, do you know how hard it’s for a kit to be labeled as scratcher? It’s not a one time accidental thing. He had to do that multiple times,” She sighed. “Two weeks ago he scratched a buck that tried to trim his claws. Luckily he didn’t draw blood.”

“I…” Matt was speechless. “But even with all of that we can’t let someone get away with this. Even a complaint could launch an investigation.”

“Kyle is not a bunny.” 

“I know that!” Matt said in frustration.

“Yes but you don’t understand what that means.” She sat on the hood of her car. ”You have a warped view of the foster system because you help at the bunny orphanage. Because of our size we have a higher mortality rate in accidents, especially when a bigger mammal is involved. There are a lot of kits that become orphans because of that. However at the same point we are very family oriented species so couples that can’t have kits are very eager to adopt. You’re the best example. You prioritized having kits over finding a mate. Kits rarely stay in foster care for more than a year. Most of the time it’s just a few months and most of them consider it a pleasant experience after they dealt with their trauma. You have no idea how unusual it is.”

She looked at the orphanage with a nostalgic smile. There were smiling parents coming out of the orphanage with new kits. She moved her purse into her lap and rested her paws on it. 

“Since our orphanage runs rather well, we often help at other orphanages. I have to tell you it isn’t pretty. Many of those children were there for years and didn’t have a hope to get adopted. They form packs and herds to be more disruptive and feel more powerful. Very often teachers needed to be firm to keep them in check. Those children don’t come from good homes.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“Mammals would probably assume that Kyle did something to deserve it and blow what happened out of proportion. I saw his record. He wasn’t staying at good places,” Monica said with an apologetic look. 

“Can we at least get him to visit a psychologist?” Matt felt defeated and shocked.

“Probably not.” 

“But you have a psychologist at the orphanage!” Matt’s mouth was agape.

“Yes, a prey psychologist. It’s a completely different field of study. Also, very often there are species specific psychologists. Cultural differences are just too big.” Monica seemed defeated. “We can’t get them to send someone to trim his claws. We sent that request two weeks ago. I doubt that they‘ll even consider sending a psychologist for a fox. We didn’t even get permission for buying him a crutch.”

They looked at each other in almost morbid silence. Matt's mind was blank. 

“I should get going. My husband and kits are waiting for me.” The white bunny finally broke the silence.

“Yeah. Sorry for taking your time.” Matt said with a stunned expression. 

“It isn’t a problem. I think you should know that if you are going to keep helping him.” She was worried about Matt. “Will you be ok?”

“Yes.” He smiled weakly. “You should get going. I’ll see you next week.”

“Bye.” She waved as Matt turned around and went to his car. 

Matt sat in his car. His paws tightly clenched the steering wheel in proper driving position. Blunt claws were digging into the rubber as he was looking in front of him with a stern expression. The bunny wasn’t that much into driving but that familiar position was bringing him some comfort in that chaotic moment. Finally he rested his forehead on the top of the wheel and his ears were hanging low. There were so many things wrong with society but the amount of problems that Kyle had to deal with was just mind boggling.

Matt pulled out the phone and looked at the pictures of the smiling Kyle. The fox’s eyes were full of joy and even teeth showed in few pictures that he was biting a ball. The kit that didn’t have to worry about anything other than playing his game and watching cartoons. He sighed loudly. There wasn’t such a thing as a bad kit. There were just kits in bad situations and with problems. Mammals just weren’t willing to take their time with them.

He sat straight in his seat and used Zoogle to find the closest shop with the rehabilitation equipment. The bunny found one that was on his way back home. Matt left the parking lot with a new determination to help Kyle. 

He followed the GPS to the shop. He parked his car at the sidewalk and walked in. It was a small shop that had the equipment mostly placed on the wall and few wheelchairs displayed on the floor so mammals could try them out. A middle aged lynx lady was sitting at the counter doing crossword puzzles. She lifted her head when she heard chime at the door.  
  
“Good afternoon. How can I help you,sir?” She smiled politely and put down her puzzle. 

“Hello. I would like to buy crutches for a feral fox kit.” He smiled politely back at her. She nodded and pulled out a book and flipped through it.

“Are they supposed to be for a general use by different kits or are you looking for crutches for a specific fox?” She was reading something on the page.

“They are for my friend, a seven years old fox boy.” Her finger was moving on the page and she tapped the page with her claw when it stopped. She closed the book and Matt saw that it was a book with growth charts for different mammals. 

She got up and went to the section of the wall that had crutches. They were all white but there were few different models.

“So at what stage is your friend?” She stood a few feets away from him to make sure that he wasn’t overwhelmed by her size. She wasn’t that much bigger than him but still wanted him to feel comfortable. 

“Sorry but I don’t know.”

“It isn’t a problem. Does he walk on all fours, like a dinosaur, like a dinosaur but with his back in vertical position or like a ballet dancer?”

“I would say somewhere between on all fours and a dinosaur but mostly all fours.” She kept her professional smile on but Matt saw a quick flash of surprise and his ears dropped. “Is that bad?”

“Of course not. Every kit goes at his own pace.” She averted her gaze from him and was fixing things on the shelfs to make them look nicer. “ If I may know, how do you know him?”

“He stays at the orphanage that I volunteer at.” 

Her smile dimed and nodded slowly as if she hoped to hear something different but she had too much experience selling rehabilitation equipment to expect anything different “Ok. Since he isn’t going to have physical therapy I suggest underarm crutches. They have a padded area to place under his armpit and rest his weight on them. It should be a good solution for him since we are not worried about his posture and proper gait. Also he’ll have a lot of fun with the swinging motion of his movement. You’ll be surprised how fast he can be like that.” 

Matt looked at the crutches that she pointed out. They would let Kyle move around in an upward position but that wouldn’t be walking. It felt like giving up rather than working towards a goal. “And what should I pick if I want him to improve?”

She smiled sadly. “It doesn’t work like that. Without physical rehabilitation he’ll just develop bad walking habits and bad posture. It’ll be really taxing on his back and he can develop spine issues because of that.”

Matt blink. He couldn’t believe that such a simple thing as picking wrong crutches could cause harm to the kit. Was he really ready for that kind of responsibility? Maybe just playing games with him would be enough. After what Monica had told the bunny, he knew that Kyle had a low chance to get adopted. Maybe Matt had known that all along and just didn’t want to acknowledge it. 

Everyone had already given up on Kyle. The fox was alone in the world. He deserved better. Maybe Matt wouldn’t be able to get the fox kit adopted but he can at least try to get him to walk. 

“I’ll do my best to help him.” The bunny said with determination.

“Things like that take a lot of time and you said it yourself, you _are_ just a volunteer. You will move one at some point.” The lynx tried to be realistic about the situation. She saw the determination on his face and sighed. “I will tell you which one you should pick under one condition. You have to promise me that as soon as you decide to move on you will come back here and buy the proper crutches for him. I will even give you a discount.”

“I will, I promise.” Matt with a confident look in his eyes and lynx smiled.

“In that case you should buy one forearm crutch. However there are few important things that you need to know.” Matt pulled out a phone and started typing.

“Using only one crutch will force him to actually walk rather than swing. You have to make sure that he regularly changes sides or he’ll develop some weird walking habits that will be difficult to fix. It also allows him to build his muscles more evenly. It sounds stupid but at first your boy will try to walk on all fours with longer front leg. You have to make sure that he isn’t doing it. Without support, his muscles have to be tense to stand. He forces himself into an uncomfortable position to be upright. With a crutch, he’ll relax because it’ll do all the work for him. So the most comfortable position for him will be legs and hips as if he was walking on all fours and pushing his chest up with the crutch. It’s very easy to spot because he’ll arch his back to do it. This arch is your number one enemy. Doing it from time to time isn’t a problem but over a long period of time it would cause spine issues.” She looked Matt dead in the eyes to make sure that he understood that she wasn’t joking around. 

“When you set the height of the crutch make sure that he can comfortably hold a straight back with it. It’s better to slowly increase the height rather than try to force him into a position that he can’t do.” She looked at the shelf and was checking tags

After a few seconds she pulled out a crutch and handed it to the bunny. It was the generic forearm crutch with a white and gray colors. “This one should be good enough for a few years.”

“Thank you very much.” The bunny said with a beaming smile. 

“It isn’t a problem. I picked up a few things after working at this shop for a few years.” She said bashfully.

He paid for the crutch and left with a big smile on his muzzle.

***

It was lunch break. They were sitting in their usual configuration with Liam in a corner of the room and the rest of the team sitting at the opposed side of him. 

“We have plenty of time. We are way ahead of schedule with our deliveries,” said Owen with a smile. “I don’t remember the last time that we had this much breathing room.”

“Don’t get used to it. We all know that it won’t last.” Matt pointed out 

“Yeah but we can still enjoy it.” The hyena said and got a fist bump trom the gopher.

“Relax Matt. It is good to have a slower schedule from time to time.” Tom smiled and other guys were nodding with agreement.

“I like it too. I am just saying to not get lazy.” Matt tried to defend his position.

During that whole exchange Emma was silent and was furiously typing on her phone. Finally she put the phone on the table. She put her elbows on the table and holded her hoofs together. She rested her chin on them and looked at Matt with a smirk. Everyone noticed that weird behaviour and stopped talking. They looked at her confused. She seemed as if she was waiting for something.

“What is it Emma?” Matt asked, expecting some weird shenanigans and mentally preparing himself.

“Oh it is nothing really. I am just wondering how Kyle is doing.” She said with an even bigger smirk.

Matt ears dropped in an instant. The bunny’s eyes met with the hyena’s. The bunny was shocked that she knew about Kyle. Liam lifted his paws in surrender. “I haven’t told her anything.”

In an instant Emma’s smirk disappeared from her face and looked at Liam. “You knew!?” 

Before Liam could answer, Matt interrupted him. “How do you know about him?”

Tom and Owen were so confused and tried to understand what was going on. Emma sighed sadly. She had imagined it going differently. She gave Liam last side glance before focusing on Matt. The sheep put on a mischievous smile.

“You mom wanted to get more information about her future grandson. I was surprised that I didn’t know anything about him.” Emma looked away from Matt.

“There is a kit that you can adopt, that is great news!” Tom said with excitement. “ That was far quicker than you have expected.”

“I am not going to adopt him. I am just helping him.” Matt said with a groan. “My mother is over reacting.”

Tom kept smiling but realized that he would get nothing out of the bunny so his head slowly turned to the next best thing. Emma was more than happy to provide the information.

“He is a 7 year old kit, doesn’t have strong bonds with his littermates and already stays in his own room. He has a feral condition. He is holding up adoption of his littermates because he is a part of the package. Not many new parents want kits with health problems.” 

“Oh that is tough but could have been worse.” Owen said considering all options. “He just needs a lot of physical therapy.” 

“Yeah and he is old enough that he could be separated from his littermates.” Tom said, trying to be encouraging. “That sounds perfect since you already have a connection with him.”

“Guys I am just helping him. I am not going to adopt him.” Matt said, a little annoyed.

“Why?” Emma was confused. “You almost desperately want to have kits.”

“It is just not right to separate him from his littermates.” Matt answered quickly.

“But that could help him and his littermates.” Emma said with a furrowed brow. “Is it about him being feral?”

Matt slid his paw over his ears and looked away. “Yeah. I don’t know if I can take care of him properly.”

The atmosphere around the table got gloomy. They could tease Matt all they wanted but at the end of the day, Kyle was a kit with a medical condition. The bunny needed to decide for himself if he really wanted to deal with it. 

“So when are you visiting him again?” Tom asked, trying to change the subject. 

“Today.” Matt smiled softly. “It turns out that they didn’t have money to buy him crutches so I got him one.” 

“Wait.” Emma looked at Matt. “You were at the orphanage yesterday, right?”

“Yeah.”

“So you are going to see him two days in the row and you have bought him something.” Emma had a mischievous smile on her muzzle and the bunny got nervous. She reached for her phone and started typing.

“Don’t you dare.” Matt shouted as he realized what she was doing. 

“I am sorry Matt. I was bribed with a pie.” She locked her eyes with Matt and pressed send on her phone.

After a few seconds Matt’s phone pinged. He checked it and saw that he had text from his mom. He groaned loudly and slammed his head on the table. “She wants me to call her after the visit.”

Everyone around the table beside Liam started laughing. The hyena stayed quiet during that whole exchange and looked more and more uncomfortable as the conversation went on. His eyes were focused on the bunny. 

***

“Matt, I’m sorry but I need to know.” Liam was panting as he caught up to the bunny at the parking lot, next to his car.

Matt was going to the orphanage after work and wasn’t expecting any of his coworkers to follow him. However the thing that shocked him the most was the pained expression on Liam’s muzzle.

“What do you need to know?” Matt furrowed his brow.

“Why did you lie about Kyle? It is one thing to not say something but this time you actively lied. Are you ashamed that you’re helping a fox?” 

Matt looked away from the hyena. “No of course not. I’m just weak. You understand that I am afraid of him, right? I can barely get enough willpower to be able to help him. I'm not sure if my resolve would survive contact with someone who doesn’t like what I am doing.”

“You think that your friends and family would like you helping a fox.” Liam was shocked. His coworkers didn’t seem to be speciest but he only had known them for a few weeks.

“No… Yes… I don’t know. I just didn’t want to take any chances. I prefer them trying to push me to adopt Kyle rather discouraging me from visiting him.” Matt was ashamed to look at Liam

“And why don’t you want to adopt Kyle? I know for a fact that you don’t care about him being feral. Is it because you are afraid of him? You already have made such great progress. You’ll get over it in no time.” Liam tried to be encouraging. 

“Why do you care so much?” Matt gave Liam a side glance.

“I don’t know. Maybe it’s solidarity with another unliked species.” Liam shrugged.

“Kyle is a fox. He should be adopted by at least another predator.There is way too many differences between us to make it work. Week ago I didn’t even know how to play catch with a predator. ” 

“I can help you with that!” The hyena offered eagerly. “You could ask me about things that you don’t understand.”

“Is it what this thing is about?” Matt was getting annoyed. “Do you want to be a hero by proxy?”

“No! He just really needs you!”

“What about what I want? Am I a bad mammal because I want bunny kits?” Matt was really angry at that point. “If Kyle really needs to be adopted so bad, why don’t you do it? I am sure that your roommates would love to have a kit around. Remind me, how long ago did you finish college?”

“Hey! That is a low blow.”

“So you can criticise my life choices but I can’t criticise yours. I see, sounds fair.”

“It is not about life choices. It’s about the life of the kit in need.”

Matt sighed. “Do you think that mammals working at the orphanage are evil?”

“What?” 

“Every day they see kits in need and they don’t adopt them. I’m sure that many of them could do it. They help them but don’t want to provide a permanent home for them. Does it make them bad mammals?”

Liam stood shocked next to the car and started nervously scratching his paw. “No but..”

Matt interrupted the hyena. “There are hundreds of kits in orphanages. I’m sure that I would find one in an even worse situation than Kyle. Should I adopt that kit instead of Kyle?”

“No one will adopt him if you won’t do it.” Liam finally said when he realized that this conversation was getting out of control. 

Matt sighed. “Yes, you are probably right. It’s sad but why is it my job to do it? I’ll try my best to help him. Is it enough?”

“You already like him and have a connection with him.” Liam sounded almost desperate.

“He’s 7 years old and only a few inches shorter than me. In a year or two he will be taller than me. If he gets hurt I won’t be able to carry him to safety. I won’t be able to carry him to his bed when he falls asleep on the couch. I’ll never understand what it’s like to be a fox or a predator. And maybe I’ll never stop being scared of him.”

“But you could love him when no one else would.” Liam offered. 

They stood in silence. The exchange drew the attention of a few mammals but no one seemed to be actively listening to what they were talking about. No one really knew how to continue that conversation. Luckily for them ping from Liam’s phone saved them and the hyena went to check it. 

“Would you like an autograph from the first bunny officer?” Liam asked casually and continued when he saw confusion on Matt’s face. “She ended up at their precinct and Ralph offered to get it for you.”

“Thanks but I’ll pass for now. We will see if she’s any good first.” The bunny smiled weakly. “I guess I will be going. I need to get the crutch to Kyle.”

Matt pointed at the crutch that was laying at the back seat of his car. Liam saw it and looked displeased. “It’s a generic one that they use in hospitals.”

“Yeah they only sold them in that color.”

“You could buy some permanent markers and color it together with Kyle.” Liam suggested 

“That sounds like a great idea. I’m sure that he’ll love it.”

They had an awkward chat about office supply stores and after saying goodbyes, they went their separate way. Both of them had a lot to think about. 


	9. The odd ones out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to the people at Zootopian Authors Association for the help.

Monica binked as she saw Matt at her office. Normally he visited the orphanage once per week so she was expecting to see him the next week, not the next day. Another difficult to ignore thing was the crutch that he was holding in his hands. It wasn’t hard to figure out for whom that brand new crutch was for.The male bunny was smiling but looked more timid and reserved. Monica put her documents to the side and got comfortable in her chair.

“Hello. I would like to donate a crutch for Kyle.” He said with almost overacted enthusiasm. 

That caught Monica off guard. Why did he want so hard to show how eager he was? She didn’t answer right away and was studying Matt’s muzzle. Despite smiling he had a tired look.

“Hello.” She said slowly, slightly worried about her friend. She pushed that thought to the side and looked at the crutch. “You can’t do that.”

“But…” Matt tried to defend his point but stopped as soon as he saw a smile on Monica’s face and furrowed his brow.

“I meant it literally. You can’t donate equipment to a specific kit. If that would be possible someone could donate a chainsaw to a kit and we know how that would end.” She giggled. “You can only donate to the orphanage and we can assign it to him. However you also shouldn’t do it”

“OK, it made sense but you lost me again.” 

“First of all there is a chance that as soon as it will end up in the inventory, another orphanage will request to have it. As we established, Kyle isn’t classified as a kit in need. It’s just a quality of life improvement for him so other kits would have a priority over him.” She pointed at the crutch. “Also you have bought the wrong kind of crutch for him. I hope that you have a receipt and can exchange it. I will show you which one you should get.”

“It is the right one.” Matt clenched his paws around the crutch with serious expression. The white bunny was reaching for her phone but stopped. She expected him to be embarrassed about his mistake but he seemed to be fully aware of what he had bought. Monica sighed softly

“Matt, we won’t get funding for physical therapy for him. It doesn’t matter how much you wish for it.” She made an apologetic smile. It was sweet how much he wanted to help that fox.

“I know but I can keep an eye on him while I visit him and give him a few pointers to improve his mobility and strength. I don’t know enough to get him walking on his own. However I should be able to get him walking with a crutch.” Matt sounded hopeful.

This time, it was Monica who got serious. She furrowed her brow. “Matt, what are you doing?”

“I am trying to help him.” Matt’s nose twitched nervously

“You are offering to visit Kyle every week for at least a few months.” She looked dead in the eyes.

“I have been visiting the orphanage every week for the last few months.”

“Exactly, the orphanage. Haven’t you noticed that we try to put you with different kits each time.” She didn’t doubt his dedication but it wasn’t about that. 

“I don’t see how that’s relevant.” Matt’s voice shook a little. He could already figure out what was coming next.

“Only prospective parents are visiting the same kits every week. We both know that you are not going to adopt him.“

“That is not entirely true. The therapist would visit him regularly.” He held the crutch closer to his chest

“Yes but they would keep it professional so the kit would know the difference. I am pretty sure that you smashed through those boundaries on your first visit and continued to do so each time. You can’t take that back.” Monica sighed. “You will break his heart when you will stop visiting.”

Matt’s mouth suddenly got really dry. “I won’t stop visiting him!”

“Do you really think that you will be able to visit him and potential kits for you to adopt at the same time? What will happen when you will finally get your kits? You will have to focus on them.” Monica tried to be a realist.    
  
She had been working in the orphanage for a long time. Many times she had to temper mammals’ expectations about getting kits easily and quickly. They were often unaware how long and tedious the adoption process was. She was there to guide them through it and offer support. That often meant being just honest about the whole process. She never had that kind of talk with Matt. He had known right away what he could expect in his situation. It was bizarre to see him acting so irrational.

“It‘ll take years for me to be matched with any kits. Litters that small are just too rare. In that time I’ll be able to get him adopted or at least find him a good foster home.” Matt said eagerly. Monica heard the same hope in his voice that most unprepared adoptive parents had. 

“You know that he‘ll be moved to a new orphanage in a few months, right? It was never a permanent place for him to stay.” The female bunny smiled sadly.

She had never enjoyed that moment when hope turned into a shock. She hadn’t expected to experience that with Matt. His ears dropped right away and his nose was twitching like crazy. His mouth hung open and he was unable to make a sound. He was able to visit the orphanage so often because it was close to his work and home. He would never be able to do it if the kit would be moved to a different part of the city. 

“Can you keep him?” He asked weakly

“He is a trouble maker and a fox. Management wants to get rid of him as soon as possible.” She saw a despair on Matt’s muzzle. She looked through the window at bunny kits playing outside and added. “But maybe if he would start behaving we could keep him little longer.“

Matt’s face lit up and nodded eagerly. He knew that it was a long shot but it was always something. The female bunny kept watching kits interacting with prospective parents on the playground. She knew that Kyle had low chances to ever experience that. She wasn’t a gambling mammal but she had a difficult decision to make. 

She should discourage Matt from visiting Kyle so often. It was a standard procedure. It would prevent Kyle from getting too attached to Matt. Young kits take separation really badly and they didn’t want to put more stress on them. However Kyle was a special case. In her honest opinion he was unadoptable. Foxes had a low adoption rate and on top of that he was already 7 years old, disabled and his record showed that he is a scratcher and troublemaker. Matt was probably the first and last mammal that would take any interest in him. 

So the question was. Should she give the fox a few months, maybe years of happiness which will be followed by a heartache? Or should she let him experience the loneliness that he is already used to? As cruel as it sounded, the second option was the better one. 

She looked back at Matt. Part of the problems was that not many social workers wanted to represent an ‘unpopular’ species. Unadopted kits would reflect badly on their record. Matt clearly didn’t care about it. He wanted to do anything in his power to help Kyle. Maybe that would be enough to give the boy a chance at a better life.

“Just give it to him.” She smiled softly. “If anyone asks about it I will just say that I forgot to update our inventory.”

Matt’s ears shot up and he smiled from ear to ear. “Thank you! Is he in his room?”

“Yes.”

“I will see you around, bye” Matt said and quickly left the room. 

She sat there motionless for a few seconds before she pulled Kyle’s file up on her computer. She had read it again and sighed when she finished. For the sake of that kit she hoped that she had made the right decision. 

“Matt is a planner, he probably can find a way to at least place Kyle in a good foster home.” She said quietly to herself trying to justify her choice.

  
  


***

Matt stood in front of an already familiar door. He took a few deep breaths to calm down his racing heart and knocked. He heard some commotion inside but he was already familiar with it..

“Hey Kyle! It’s Matt. Can I come in?” The bunny said full of enthusiasm. Matt waited for a few seconds giving the boy a chance to analyze the situation. 

“Yes?” He heard a quiet childish voice of the fox.

Matt opened the door and the first thing that he had noticed was the fox’s head peeking from under the bed. His fur was a mess as always. Kyle’s big icy blue eyes shined in the dark room. Kyle preferred to have curtains at least partly pulled over his window. He furrowed his brow and looked confused. Matt closed the door behind him and smiled. 

“I decided to visit you earlier. I hope that you don’t mind.” He said calmly.

Kyle seemed as if he was making sure that it was really Matt before coming out from under the bed. The boy casually walked on all fours in front of the bunny. Their last play session convinced him that there was nothing wrong in walking on all fours. All three tennis balls were scattered around the room. He had played on his own. The kit’s movements still weren’t well coordinated but he was slowly getting there. Matt could only imagine how often he forced himself to walk on two legs or just didn’t move at all. The boy’s mobility was clearly lacking. However they would change that. Matt sat cross legged on the floor so Kyle would feel more comfortable while approaching him.

“I’ve brought you something.” Matt kept the crutch in his paws. The bunny smiled to encourage Kyle to get closer. “It’ll help you walk up right.”

The fox folded his ears against his head and stopped. Matt furrowed his brow as he watched Kyle’s reaction. Why didn’t he want to get any closer? 

“Would you like to try it?” The bunny extended his arm with the crutch towards the boy. “It’s really easy to use.”

Kyle looked at the crutch and backed away. He put his tail between his legs and shook his head. Kyle was a cautious kid but it wouldn’t explain his reaction. The fox wasn’t scared, just really uncomfortable. Matt needed a different approach. He stood up and extended the crutch so it would fit his size. 

He put the crutch on the ground and walked with it. The bunny didn't need that much support so it looked fine walking with it. He looked at the fox who didn’t move from his spot. 

“I know that it’s a new thing but you should try it. You’ve tried playing with me and it was fun. It’ll help you to learn how to walk on your own.” The bunny gave Kyle his best encouraging smile.

It didn’t work. The boy was nervously shifting his weight from paw to paw, swaying softly. It was about more than just not wanting to try the new thing out. The bunny had to get to the bottom of it. Kyle didn’t like to talk so he wouldn’t give Matt the answer on his own. Matt sighed and sat down on the floor. The bunny placed the crutch to the side and relaxed as if he was about to tell a story. 

“You might not believe it but I used to spend a lot of time outside when I was a kit.” He smiled warmly at the fox who was confused by the change of the topic. “I know! What a shocker. In my defence, things like the internet and cable tv weren't widely available yet. Could you imagine only having a half an hour cartoon once per day?”

That question made him wonder how much access to cartoons kits at the orphanage have. They had a tv room and playrooms. From what he knew Kyle prefered staying in his room. He probably hadn't watched too many cartoons but had enjoyed watching cartoons with Matt. 

“My family owns a farm in Bunnyburrow. It’s such a lovely farming town. So I’ve spent most of my time with my littermates running around the farm. Have you ever seen an area with almost no houses, just fields?” Kyle got interested. His body relaxed and he sat on the floor. The fox shook his head. Matt expected that the boy had never been outside of the city.

“One day we decided to try walking on the wooden fence to see who had the best balance. It was great fun until I fell. We hadn’t noticed that there was a rock in the grass near the fence. My foot slammed into it and I broke it.” Kyle winced at that. “It wasn’t that bad. It could have been much worse.”

“I needed to rest my leg for a few days. I mostly stayed in bed, reading books. I was getting restless in bed and very eager to get outside again. However with my broken foot I couldn’t walk properly so my parents got me a crutch. I wasn’t able to run with other kits but I could hang out with them outside.” Matt looked at the crutch next to him. “I was using it until I was able to walk on my own."

The bunny smiled at Kyle. "It's only meant to help you until you’ll be able to walk on your own. Think about it. You wouldn't have to worry about walking through the open space when using it."

Kyle mostly leaned against walls to be able to walk up right. Matt had seen the fox walking without support. So far it always ended up with the boy falling down and having a panic attack because he wasn't able to get up. Kyle didn't want to be seen on all fours in public. It was a small miracle that he allowed Matt to see him like that. 

"With it you wouldn't have to worry about falling down. You will be able to explore on your own. Also you’ll be faster because you wouldn't have to worry about balance as much." Matt picked up the crutch once again and held in front of him for Kyle to inspect.

The fox didn't move. His icy blue eyes traveled from the crutch to the bunny's muzzle and back. The boy's posture was more relaxed and he seemed to consider the offer. 

"I know that it looks rather boring but it’s the only one that I’ve been able to get. I’ve bought permanent markers so we can color it together." Matt hoped that it would make a grey forearm crutch more appealing.

Matt waited for any kind of response from Kyle. After a few seconds of deliberating, the fox looked away. "I don't want it." 

Matt wasn't able to hide a flash of disappointment on his muzzle but kept smiling. He got Kyle to talk and he needed to strike the iron while it was hot. He hoped that the chatty mood would last long enough.

"Can you tell me why?"

Kyle lowered his head and kept looking away. He was shutting down again and Matt needed to do something fast. It could be a problem specific to foxes that the bunny wasn't aware of.

"Do you like playing catch with me?" The kit quickly turned his head towards Matt and nodded eagerly.

"Do you remember how unsuccessful our first try was?" The fox gave the bunny a slow small nod.

"You’ve promised to tell me about things that you don't like. I want to help you but I might not know about things that are obvious to you. Please tell me what is wrong so we can have fun together." Matt lowered his ears and tried to mimic the boy's closed up posture hoping that it would make it easier for him to open up. 

Kyle looked at the tennis balls scattered around the room. His tail wagged softly when he remembered how much fun they had. It stopped when his eyes went back to the crutch. The fox nervously bit his lower lip with his fangs showing. Matt’s heart beat faster but was able to stop himself from squeaking. 

"Other kits don't use it. They will make fun of me." Kyle finally said with a dejected voice.

The bunny first instinct was to tell the kit that he shouldn't worry about it. However he didn’t want to dismiss Kyle's worries. The bunny couldn't imagine how much courage it required from the kit to admit that. Kyle trusted him and Matt needed to show him that it was a well placed trust. The bunny smiled softly.

"Yeah, sadly some of them will do that. Kits can be mean but that shouldn't discourage you from trying to get better. It’s only a step on the way for you to walk on your own." Matt knew that it didn't provide a lot of comfort to the fox. No kit wanted to hear that his fears were real.

"I try to remember that what mammals say about you says more about them than it says about you." Kyle just nodded sadly and seemed really defeated.

Matt wasn't sure what to do. He wanted Kyle to use the crutch but didn't want to lie to the boy to achieve it. Kyle most of his life was the odd mammal out. The kit didn't want to add another source of potential ridicule. Matt knew how cruel kits could be. They made fun of his glasses all the time when he was in school. Matt's ears shot up and he sat straight. It was so sudden that it spooked Kyle and made him jump back. 

"Sorry." The bunny froze in place so Kyle could see that everything was fine. The kit's eyes looked around the room trying to find a potential danger. He relaxed when he made sure that it was all right.

"I will be right back." Matt stood up and ran out of the room. 

With a fast pace he got to his car which was parked next to the orphanage. The bunny opened the glove compartment and pulled out his glasses. He kept them there in case something would happen to his contact lenses. Matt was panting when he got back to Kyle's room. He stopped in front of the door and knocked. 

"It's Matt again. Can I come in?" Matt was out of breath but sounded excited.

"Yes." Soft curious voice said from behind the door.

Matt went in and sat on the floor in front of the kit. The bunny was catching his breath as he put the glasses in front of him so Kyle could check them out. Glasses weren't very common and we're mostly associated with older mammals. It was one of the reasons why he switched to contact lenses after moving to zootopia. It wasn't anything to be ashamed of but he had a lot of bad memories of kits teasing him because of wearing glasses.

"I have bad eyes. That means that I don't see as well as other mammals. I need glasses to see properly." The bunny pointed to them on the floor. "You can check them out."

Kyle was really interested in the new item. They were simple square glasses with black frames. As Kyle got closer Matt opened them up and presented them to Kyle. "Would you like to try them on?"

Kyle nodded and Matt slowly placed them on the fox's muzzle. Arms of the glasses hugged the boy's head, keeping them in place. Matt and Kyle were similar sizes so the glasses fit nicely. 

"Wow! That is so weird." Kyle said as he was looking around the distorted room.

The fox looked really cute and it would be a real shame not to capture it. The bunny pulled out his phone and took a few pictures as Kyle was looking at his paw through the glasses or looked around the room.

"You look great in them!" Matt said with a smile which made Kyle wag his tail.

"Ok I know that it is fun but we need to take them off. It’s bad for your eyes to use glasses that aren't meant for you." Matt gently took back the glasses and Kyle watched them curiously.

"How do they work?" 

"It’s like a looking glass but smaller. Glass inside of them has a special shape that matches my problem. I see the world weirdly and when I add the weirdness of glasses to it, everything becomes normal." Matt kept glasses close to Kyle's face so he could inspect the shape of lenses. The boy nodded eagerly but almost right away furrowed his brow and looked at the bunny.

"Why are you not using them now?" 

"Because I am using contact lenses. They work like glasses but they are on my eyes." Matt faced away from Kyle and pulled one of the lenses out. 

Taking off a contact lens wasn’t the most pleasant thing to see. He didn’t want the kit to be gross out by it. He rested it in the paw and showed it to the kit where the boy could see the small translucent dome shape.

"Wow! That is so cool."

"Yeah they are great. Because of them no one can tell that I have this problem. I’ve been using them since I moved to Zootopia. I was teased a lot because I wore glasses because not many young mammals wear them. I really needed them. I was different so they thought that it was a good reason to make fun of me." Kyle folded his ears against his head. The fox knew too well what it was like.

"I’ve a proposition for you. If you’ll use the crutch, I’ll use my glasses. I’ll keep doing it for as long as you’ll need your crutch. That way you won't be the only different mammal around." The bunny smiled and turned back again to pull out the other contact lens. He took a tissue out of his pocket and placed both lenses on it. He wrapped them up and placed them on the floor. Matt put the glasses on his head with a smile. 

"If you agree you can break them." Matt pointed to the tissue. Kyle's eyes went wide as he looked at the bunny in glasses.

"They’ll make fun of you." Kyle said with a shocked expression on his muzzle.

"Yeah some mammals will but I can deal with it." Matt shrugged. "We just need things to help us. It’s not bad."

The fox looked at the tissue like it was a bomb. He didn't know what to do.

"Don't worry. They are not that expensive. I can always get new ones. So I won't be stuck with glasses if that is what you are worrying about. It is the same with you. You can always stop using the crutch.” Matt smiled softly.

Kyle looked at Matt to make sure that the bunny wasn’t joking. The boy’s tail wagged nervously as he carefully stepped on the tissue. The fox felt plastic lenses bending under his paws. Kyle looked up as if he was expecting to be yelled at but it didn’t happen. Matt just took the tissue and unwrapped it to show the boy bent pieces of plastic. With a beaming smile the bunny tossed them into the bin.


	10. Heart to heart

“See. You look great.” Matt showed Kyle the photo that he took. 

The fox was standing upright with the help of a crutch as he was looking at the phone. It took Matt a lot of time to find the perfect length of the crutch for the boy. The bunny was too optimistic and started with rather long length. Kyle could stand like that but he was arching his back. Matt needed to get the fox to a proper position which took a few minutes.

“Yeah.” Kyle sounded unconvinced. His ears were folded against his head and kept his tail between his legs

Kyle was leaning forward a lot but with the help of the crutch he was able to stay up right. There was a long road ahead for that boy to be able to walk on his own. It couldn’t be helped. Matt knew that the most important thing when it came to rehabilitation was repetition and gradual improvement. Forcing him to do something that he wasn’t able to could harm the fox.

“Can we make it longer?” The fox asked shyly.

If he was fully upright Kyle would reach Matt’s chin but with how much he needed to lean forward the fox’s head was around the bunny’s heart area. 

“We’ll do that when you’ll be able to keep the right posture.” Matt smiled softly. 

“But I can do it,” Kyle said eagerly. “When we tried for the first time I was able to stand.” 

Matt wasn’t a therapist but knew how important it was to keep the boy’s back straight. With support from the crutch it was easy for the boy to arch his back and to have his chest straight. It was what Kyle wanted to do but it wasn’t healthy for him. Doing that for an extended amount of time could cause a lot of back issues. So they needed to slowly increase the length of his crutch as the boy would be improving.

“Kyle,” Matt said softly. “You’ll hurt yourself if you do that. I know that you want a quick result but sadly it’ll take some time. It’s very important to have your back straight. That way eventually you won’t need the crutch.”

The fox looked away and sighed. “Ok.”

“You only need to have your back straight. Your knees can be bent. You just need to walk and run to get strong enough to do that. So you have a perfect excuse to play catch with me.” Matt smiled trying to cheer him up.

Kyle looked at Matt and smiled. “It was fun.” 

With that the bunny took a few steps back and held his arms in front of him as if he wanted a hug. “Maybe you could try walking.”

So far Kyle was only standing next to the bed with his crutch. The fox looked at the bunny in glasses with a nervous determination. At first, the boy lifted the crutch in place a couple of times to test how his balance would take it. His body tensed up each time to support his unusual position. When he was confident that he wouldn’t fall, he moved it a little bit forward.

It wasn’t too far away because he didn't know that would upset his balance. With the crutch firmly on the ground he took a small step. The fox stopped to check that everything was all right before the other foot joined the first one. He slowly moved away from the bed towards the center of the room where Matt stood. 

“You’re doing great!”

Kyle wagged his tail and repeated the pattern. He moved the crutch a little forward and soon after two small steps followed. It wasn’t a proper walking cycle but the boy was moving. It was the only important thing at that point, just to build his strength. Over time they would adjust his walking pattern.

When the fox got closer, he reached with his left paws towards the bunny’s paw to grab it. The boy miscalculated how far he was from Matt. Rather than take another step, he tried to grab the paw that was just outside of his reach. The fox was balancing with the crutch supporting most of his weight. As he stretched to grab the paw one foot lost its grip and slided on the floor. 

The boy started falling. Kyle’s determined muzzle change into one of fear. The bunny immediately stepped forward and grabbed the boy’s paw. Matt pulled it up to keep the boy up. Kyle firmly grabbed the paw holding for dear life. The fox’s claws dug into the bunny’s paw. Matt’s mind went blank and squeaked loudly. The only thing on the bunny’s mind were claws digging into his paw. 

Matt’s heart was racing and his nose twitched rapidly. He instinctively tried to pull the hand away. The boy’s firm grip prevented that. It only pulled the fox closer to him. Kyle let go of the crutch. With the free paw reached for the bunny trying to find something to grab. The fox wasn’t going to end up on the floor no matter what. Kyle’s claws dug into Matt’s shirt. 

Sound of clothes tearing filled the room. The fabric was strong enough to give the boy some support. He took those last few steps and his head rested on Matt’s chest. The bunny was hyperventilating. Matt was shaking his paw trying to get the claws off it. The boy heard how fast bunny’s heart was beating and smelled his fear. Kyle let go of Matt’s paw. 

“I’m sorry.” Kyle said, trying to hold back his tears.

The bunny wasn’t registering what was happening. He was just relieved that claws weren’t digging into his paw. His mind tried its best to figure out what was happening. So one by one he senses were coming back to him. Matt heard kits laughing outside the window as they played and the uneven breath of a kit nearby. He smelled the dusty scent of the room mixed with a familiar musk. He saw the ray of sunlight making a nice sunny spot in that mostly dark room. He also saw something orange fur next to his chest. Matt was taking deep breaths trying to calm himself when he felt the red furred creature shiver. It made the bunny look down. Kyle was sobbing quietly.

Events of the last few seconds played out in the bunny’s head. It was like an out of body experience. He could only watch and be horrified by what he had done. He was sickened by his actions.His ears dropped instantly. He needed to make it better. Matt wrapped his arms around the boy, hugging him closely. The bunny gently rubbed Kyles’s back. 

“It’s all right. You did nothing wrong. I’m the one who is sorry for reacting like that.” Matt petted the boy’s head. Despite his size, he was just a kit. 

“I scared you.” Kyle said quietly as he hid his muzzle on Matt’s chest.

The bunny bit his lower lip. “Kyle, it wasn’t you. I promise”

“You smell like fear so often when you’re around me.”

Matt’s heart sank. It was true that he was scared of the fox’s predator features. The bunny hoped that he was able to hide how uncomfortable he got sometimes. Was the boy able to tell each time? He knew that canines had a good sense of smell but he wasn’t expecting it to be _that_ good. Matt sighed softly. The bunny smoothed some of the matted fur on the boy's head. He would have to brush him at some point. He had made so many bad choices regarding Kyle. He didn’t know so many things about foxes. 

“I’ve mentioned to you that I’ve a bunny problem that I’m working on.” Matt gently pulled the fox away from his chest and with his paw lifted the boy’s chin so he would look at him. “I am afraid of predators.”

Matt had to come clean. Kyle deserved to know. If the bunny knew that the boy was able to tell what was happening, he would have told him a long time ago. The boy’s teary eyes looked confused and he furrowed his brow. 

“So why do you visit me?” The foxes voice was shaky from all the emotions.

“Because I like you.” Matt said with a smile and he lifted his ears. “So I won’t let fear keep me away from you. The same way your condition won’t stop you from walking upright.”

Kyle froze, unable to process what he just heard. He looked at the bunny as if he was talking in a forign language. Matt gently squeezed the fox’s shoulder.

“You’ve been helping me a lot with my fear so it is only fair that I’ll help you with your walking.” The bunny said.

Kyle watched in disbelief as Matt was talking. The boy had so many feelings that he didn’t know what to do. He just hugged the bunny in front of him tightly not willing to let go and Matt quickly returned it. Bunnies are very social so he welcomed that unexpected hug. It took him a second to realize that there was something different about this hug. At first he couldn’t place it what it was. When Kyle hugged him tighter the bunny felt fist on his back. The bunny smiled softly as his paws grasped the boy back. 

“I’m sorry about your shirt.” Kyle said quietly as he saw holes that he made on the bunny’s chest.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s just a shirt. I’m glad that you didn’t get hurt.” Matt said and for the first time in his life Kyle believed that.

“You did amazing walking with the crutch.” Kyle gently wagged his tail. “However I think that we had a little too much excitement with walking for one day. Would you like to color the crutch?"

Kyle nodded softly but continued the hug. Matt chuckled softly. The bunny gently bent back while hugging the boy to lift him a few inches off the ground. Then he put his feet under the boy's feet as he lowered him back down. Matt wasn't strong enough to carry the fox so he had to get creative. With that he walked towards the desk. It was more like a wobbling with the bunny shifting their weight from side to side. He lifted the boy's feet with every step until they reached the desk.

"You can let go now." Matt said as they stood close enough to the chair that Kyle could grab it.

The fox slowly pulled away from the bunny and avoided looking at him. The fox's ears were folded but he was smiling weakly. Matt could even swear that the fox's were redder than usual. Kyle grabbed the chair and stepped off the bunny's feet. 

"Ok sit down and I will get everything ready."

Matt went to his bag and pulled out a brand new set of permanent markers. On his way back he grabbed the crutch and placed everything on the desk. Then he went back to the window and pulled the curtains back, letting more sun in. That was met with a groan from Kyle as his paw went up to shield his eyes. 

"Sorry but we need to see how colors look on the sun." The bunny said as he opened the window to let some fresh air in.

Permanent markers had a rather strong smell so he didn't want the boy to inhale too much of it. Luckily the desk was close to the window. Kyle was already sitting at the desk when the bunny came back. There was only one chair in the room but Matt didn't mind standing. 

Kyle grabbed one of his notebooks and was checking the color of each marker on paper. Matt had bought good quality markers so the color was consistent. The bunny was half expecting the boy to just put random colors on the crutch. The first thing that the fox drew were vials with blue and red liquids in them. Matt didn't know a lot about Kyle's interest so the drawing was a good conversation starter. 

"So you like fantasy games. What games have you played? Was it a board game or something on the TV?" Kyle looked up at Matt and furrowed his brow. 

With such a small size difference between them Matt sometimes forgot how young the fox was. He probably didn't understand the concept of fantasy.

"Where have you seen Mana potions and health potions?" Matt pointed to the drawing which confused the fox even more. 

Kyle wasn't a talkative kit. It was hard to tell if he was confused by the concept that the bunny was talking about or the fact that the bunny tried to start a conversation. Matt smiled warmly while he was figuring out the next step. Matt had lost some of his confidence but it wasn't a reason to stop.

"What are you drawing?" The bunny finally asked. 

The fox looked at the vials. "Beakers and flasks with stuff in them."

Matt blinked. "Those are really nice. Where have you learned about them?"

"Lady in the cartoon was mixing stuff to get other stuff. It was so cool." Kyle said as he was adding more different shaped flasks with different colors in them. 

"Do you like science?" Matt picked a black marker and was drawing an outline of a fox's head.

Kyle nodded as he was drawing stars on the crutch. "Yes. It's interesting."

"That is true. Our teacher has shown us a lot of experiments in school." Matt put down the black marker and scratched his chin. "Maybe I'll be able to show you some of them."

"Yes, please." Kyle was wagging his tail. Matt laughed. It was the first time that he saw the fox so animated.

"Ok. On my next visit I will ask Monica if you were behaving. If she says that you were a good boy, I'll prepare some experiments for us to do." Matt grabbed the red color marker and colored the fox's head.

"I'll be good. I promise." 

Kyle had noticed what Matt was doing. He grabbed the black marker and drew a bunny's head next to the fox. The boy gave it brown fur and glasses. After a few minutes there there was a drawing of a smiling fox and bunny next to each other.

***

Matt tossed the shirt into the bin and grabbed his phone as he went to the living room to sit down on the couch. He was looking at the locked screen for a few minutes without moving. Finally he tossed the phone to the side with a groan and his paws went to his face to rub his eyes. Paws bumped into his glasses which made the bunny groan in frustration once more. 

It had brought him a small comfort when he finally rubbed his eyes. He looked at the phone that was laying next to him and his ears dropped. The bunny rested his head against the back of the couch with an contemplative expression. He grabbed the remote and turned on the TV. Matt tried to catch on the news but he could still see the phone at the edge of his vision. The longer he was inviting it, the more noticeable it seemed. 

"Just do it." Matt encouraged himself. He muted the TV and grabbed the phone.

In his contact he found his mom. He took a deep breath and put on his winning smile as he pressed the button for muzzletime. His phone was ringing and it felt like an eternity. Maybe he could still hang up and call later. The screen flashed and Matt saw his mother smiling at him. 

"Honey! Matt's calling!" She shouted before focusing on the screen. Her smile grew. "You're wearing your glasses! I've missed them so much. You look so much better in glasses."

"It's nice to see you too mom." Matt said with a smile. An older male bunny appeared on the screen. "Hi dad!"

"Hi son!" The older male bunny had a mischievous smile on his muzzle. "So when do we get to meet Kyle?"

Matt sighed loudly in defeat. "Not you too."

His father laughed. "Well you have to admit that it looks serious. You've visited him two days in the row and you've bought him a crutch."

Matt lifted his brow and looked at his mother. "Your spy is good."

She giggled. "I don't mind baking pies to get information about my son and potential grandson."

"Yeah." The older male interrupted her. "When can we expect to hear the good news?"

Matt looked blankly at the screen. He wasn't ready for this conversation. So many different emotions were running through his brain. His talk with Liam kept flashing in his mind. He felt guilt, shame but at the same time he knew what he wanted.

"I don't want to adopt him." He finally said. 

“Why? You seem to like that boy.” His father furrowed his brow.

“I really like him but…” Matt paused trying to put into words how he was feeling about the whole situation. “It doesn’t feel right. It feels like highschool. When I was forcing myself to date girls. I was so desperate to have the family that I always wanted. I tried to convince myself that I was bi and just needed to find the right girl.”

His mother dropped her ears and put a hand to her mouth. She looked at her son with a worried expression. His father was just listening intently. Once Matt opened the floodgate he wasn’t able to stop.

“This time it’s worse because I would be playing with a boy’s life. What if I would never get rid of that feeling of it being wrong. I want to love him, not adopt him because of some misguided sense of justice or righteousness. I thought that I would feel something when I would find my kits. That I would know right away that they are mine and I finally found them. It didn’t happen with him. I like him. I care about him but he doesn’t feel like my kit.” Matt grabbed his shirt on his chest, wanting to fill the part of his heart that was missing.

“Also his body freaks me out way too much. It isn’t a healthy environment to be raised by someone who feels like that.” Matt’s voice was shaking. He felt as if he was going to cry at any moment. The pent up emotions from the past few days were flowing through him.

“He’s going to be separated from his litter. It doesn’t matter if I want him or not. He’ll be alone and I still don’t want to take him. Today I had a full blown panic attack when he grabbed me without warning. You should have seen the look on his face as I was calming him down. I felt so disgusted with myself. What is wrong with me? I often feel that I hurt him more than I help him.” Tears were streaming down his muzzle as he was doing his best to keep them at bay.

His mother got teary-eyed herself as she saw her son’s breakdown, unable to say anything to comfort him. His father on the other paw was oddly calm and looked at him with a soft expression.

“Did he feel better after you comforted him?” His father asked.

Matt was trying to catch his breath. “Y-Yeah.”

“That is great.” The older male said with a smile. “Would you adopt him if he didn’t have that issue with his body?”

“Yes.” Matt was surprised how quickly he was able to answer that and how honest it was.

His father scratched his chin. “Then I guess that what you’re feeling is normal.”

Matt's eyes went wide. His breath was still uneven. “W-what?”

The older bunny sighed. “I had similar feelings when we brought you home for the first time.”

“You were the part of our first litter. I didn’t know what to expect. I had similar ideas to you. That once I would see you, the father instinct would kick in and I would know what to do. That I would instantly have that connection with you and know that you’re mine.” He chuckled 

“Oh how wrong I was. It was fine at the hospital when I was able to hold you for a few minutes. But once we got home I could only feel fear. I was scared that I would hurt you, don’t understand you and disappoint you.” He looked at his wife.

“You mother on the other hand was amazing. She instantly knew what you wanted when you cried. How to calm you down or get you to sleep. I was failing at all of those tasks. I felt like a bad father and a fraud. I should have known how to do all those things. I couldn’t sleep because of that.” He sighed. “All I could do was to make your mother more comfortable because I didn’t know what to do with you.”

“It lasted for over a week. Then one day you were crying very loudly. Your mother was already busy with your brother. I was scared. I just picked you and hugged you.” He smiled warmly at his son. “You almost instantly stopped crying. It was such a small thing but from that moment I knew that everything would be all right. The fear was replaced by the love.”

“I hate to break it to you son but all parents make mistakes in the beginning. Just in our case kits don’t remember that. You’ll get your moment when you’ll know that they’re your kits. It doesn’t have to be when you meet them. They’ll be yours no matter when you’ll get that feeling.” He wrapped his arm around his wife. “I am also pretty sure that your brother is feeling something similar right now with his kits. You should see how he is looking. It’s rough.”

Matt was breathing more evenly and tears had stopped. He felt weirdly calm after such an emotional outburst. It was the first time that his father told him about his experience with fatherhood. It was comforting to know that he had his own issues when Matt considered him a great father. “My reaction is much more unusual.”

“You would adopt healthy kits, right? Even if it wouldn’t feel right at the start.” 

“Yes but I know that I would get over it.” 

“So why are you so sure that it wouldn’t happen with Kyle?” His father smiled.

Matt looked away from the screen. He didn’t want to tell his parents that there was more to it than just being feral. “I don’t know that.”

“Isn’t one of the perks of being a foster parent that you take the kit and if you don’t match just find them a good home?” His mother chimed in.

“It isn’t that simple.” Matt bit his lip. “If I would take him I wouldn’t be able to take more kits. My current limit is 2. Litters of 2 are rare and bunnies without litter are even rarer.”

“So you’re super lucky that you found one already.” His father winked.

There were so many things that his parents were unaware about. He really didn’t want to adopt Kyle. He had dreamed about having bunny kits for so long. The fox didn’t fit into that picture. Maybe it was petty but Matt wasn’t able to change it. 

“I’ll think about it.” He said finally.

“It is a big decision. I am just providing my insight. I am sure that you have your own reasons. You have to do what is the best for you.” His older male smiled.

Matt just nodded. He felt as if some weight was lifted off his shoulders. His mother noticed that the conversation was slowly dying out but didn’t want to end the conversation on the sour note.

“So maybe you could tell us about your meeting with Kyle. I love hearing about him.” She suggested.

“Should I be jealous?” Matt smiled.

“No. At least until you show me some pictures of him. After that I can’t promise anything.” She giggled.

Matt laughed. “It’s because of him that I’m wearing my glasses now.”

Matt described in great details his meeting with Kyle. How he got the boy to try the crutch and his first attempt of walking with it. How they colored the crutch and it turned out that Kyle loves science. 

Matt didn’t know that his mother lied to him. She didn’t love hearing about Kyle. She loved hearing Matt talking about the boy. How softly he spoke about him. How the bunny’s face lit up with joy and pride at the boy's accomplishments. When Matt was too engrossed in his story she looked at her husband with a knowing smile. He just nodded softly and they both enjoyed the next 15 minutes of their son talking about their future grandson. 


	11. The way you smell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to Pilgrim for being an amazing beta reader.

Two was a nice number... a great number, even. Realistically it was the lowest average number that he would ever get. It had taken him many weeks to reduce the starting number to just two. With that, he could hope for a zero from time to time. Liam would like to think that he was doing it for them, to make them more comfortable. However in reality, it was purely selfish. He hated the scent of fear.

The hyena was sitting on a train to Bunnyburrow. It was his everyday trip from Savanna Central where he lived to Meadowlands where he worked. Zootopia was big enough that using trains was a convenient way to move around the city. Liam sighed and looked around the car, trying not to bring too much attention to himself. He should have ignored it but the morbid curiosity got the best of him. Most of the mammals were familiar. This early in the morning the passengers were like him and just tried to get to work. Everyone kept to themselves trying to get a few minutes of rest before starting their work day. He felt a weird sense of pride that some of them were napping even with him in the car.  
  
There were a couple of otters sitting a few rows away, eying him. Judging by their luggage, they were going on the trip outside of the city. The guy had his arm wrapped around the girl and they glanced at him from time to time with worried expressions. The scent was coming from them. It was so much worse when predators were afraid of him. To his credit the guy was doing his best to keep his companion comfortable. He was smiling and tried to engage the girl in a conversation so she would forget that there was a hyena in their car.

For a moment he considered looking at his phone and laughing softly. A “normal” laugh was often good enough to get mammals comfortable around him but he really wasn't in the mood. It would also be a wasted effort. The hyena would probably never see them again. It would also allow the otter to score more points with his girlfriend if Liam was a dangerous criminal. With his soft laugh and well kept clothes Liam had convinced mammals who traveled to work with him that he wasn't a gang member. It had taken him so long and he was a guy. The hyena couldn't imagine how long it would take his sister to do the same. On the other paw, she was much tougher than him. She wouldn't care that a few mammals were uncomfortable around her. 

The hyena looked outside the window and watched as the city was passing him by. Liam hated using public transport. Almost as much as mammals hated being in the same car with a hyena. He could feel the otters' gaze on his fur and tried his best to ignore it. Even with all that effort he would still get some random passengers every time. At least the scent of fear was bearable. The first few trips to work were very uncomfortable. He had to breath through his mouth for the first few weeks. He thanked the gods that he didn't have a strong sense of smell like canines. He probably wouldn't have gotten through those trips and just quit.

Liam closed his eyes and rested his head against the window hoping to get a quick nap. He stayed up way too long watching Pawflix. He should have known better but there was always one more episode to watch. Even after a few months in a new job he tried to keep his sleep schedule the same. His habit was difficult to break. Those naps were a small relief each morning. 

The hyena groaned when he heard Meadowlands station being called. He had found a comfortable position and didn’t want to move. Liam tried to focus on the free coffee that he would get at the office. Reluctantly he got up and joined the crowd of mammals that were getting off at the same station as him. His tired expression worked for his advantage. Mammals were less afraid of a tired hyena. 

The office was a short walk away from the station. It was the main reason why he applied for the job which was on the other side of the city. He would have many more options if he was just willing to move to live closer to his job but he liked his roommates. It was also cheaper to split the bills with them and get a train pass.

He had been living with them since university. Liam hadn’t thought too much about it until Matt pointed out that he should have lived on his own. With his new job the hyena could afford that but why should he bother? He was perfectly fine where he was. He shouldn't move because the bunny suggested it. It was a little unusual, sure, but they made it work.   
  
He let his legs carry him on autopilot to the building. His body almost shivered as he smelled the sweet scent of coffee coming from the kitchen. It was his first stop. With a big cup of coffee he went to his team’s office area.

Matt was already sitting at his desk. The hyena waved at him. The bunny almost jumped in his seat when he saw him and waved back. Liam furrowed his brow. The bunny was nervously shifting in his seat, a new type of nervous shifting. After a few weeks of interacting with the bunny, he considered himself an expert on Matt’s nervous behaviours. He had seen him in more uncomfortable situations than even his family. It was amazing to watch the bunny change from someone who was afraid of predators to a mammal that was eager to help one. 

Liam shrugged and went to his desk to boot up his computer. Whatever Matt’s problem was, the bunny would tell him when he was ready. The hyena sipped his coffee and at the corner of his eye he was the bunny fighting with himself wherever he should approach Liam. A few times Matt rested his paws on the armrest, ready to get up before he changed his mind. It was intriguing what made him so anxious.

Finally Matt got up and slowly approached the hyena who swiveled his chair in the bunny’s direction. He was standing in front of Liam with red ears and couldn't look the hyena in the eyes. 

“Can I touch your claws?” Matt said quickly under his breath not able to fight off his embarrassment.

"What?" Liam sat in his chair and blinked, not sure if he heard it correctly.

For a moment the bunny considered turning around and going back to his desk but he already asked. He couldn’t take that back, leaving would make things more awkward. Matt took a deep breath.

"Can I touch your claws?" Matt said louder than the last time.

"Why?" The bunny had asked him for weird things before but it took the cake. Matt visibly deflated when he had to explain himself. He could see that question coming but didn’t want to answer it. 

"I had a little freakout regarding claws when I visited Kyle.” Matt bit his lip and hung his head low. “I wanna avoid it in the future." 

Liam signed. There was an unspoken rule among predator species with good smell to never bring up the fact that they could smell the fear. It would make a delicate relationship between predators and prey even more awkward if they knew that they weren’t able to hide how they were really feeling. They just let it be a myth. A story that was told to kits that weren’t listening to their parents. Liam knew from the beginning how scared Matt was of him. The bunny had improved so much in such a short time. Matt was trying his best for the fox kit.

"Really? From Emma's story it seemed like it went well." Liam smiled softly.

Matt sighed. "Yeah. I need to talk with her about personal boundaries. The information exchange between her and my mother is rather scary. Eh... I just couldn’t tell my mom about a predator related freak out."

There it was again, the sting of pain. It still hurt that Matt wasn’t willing to tell his prey family and friends that he was taking care of a predator kit. As if it was something wrong or shameful. Liam was glad that the bunny was so open with him and knew Matt’s reasons for it. However, it didn’t make the hyena feel any better. 

"Yeah" Liam scratched his chin. "Don't be too mad at her. Mammals are genuinely happy for you. They think that there’s a good chance you’ll adopt Kyle. They want to be supportive. She just provided information that she knew. It’s your own fault that you don't tell them the whole story."

"It's just complicated." The bunny looked at Liam with a tired expression. "I'm not sure how I feel about it. Talking about it would make things more confusing."

Matt clenched his fists and his body got tense. Liam didn’t want his personal agenda to affect how willing the bunny was to help the kit. Despite how the hyena felt about the situation, the most important mammal in the equation was the fox kit back at the orphanage. 

"You must at least like Kyle if you’re willing to flirt with your hyena co-worker to improve your relationship with him." Liam grinned and wiggled his eyebrows.

Matt was stunned for a second as his brain tried processing what just happened. The bunny laughed loudly and he started to loosen up. “Nice try. I've read a lot of research papers and interspecies relationships don't work like that." 

Liam’s eyes went wide. Did his innocent joke turn into an unexpected opportunity? He and his roommates tried to learn more about interspecies relationships but didn’t know where to look for that kind of information. Surprisingly there weren’t a lot of sites that wanted to deal with topics like that.

"Really?" Liam asked slowly, "And why were you reading papers on interspecies relationships?"

Matt bit his lip and his ears dropped but he looked at Liam and sighed. "It might sound stupid but numbers relax me. They don't lie and it’s comforting. I’m a type of mammal that needs to understand something to be fine with it. So when I was trying to accept the fact that I’m gay, I read a lot of papers about it. Research about interspecies relationships was in the same category so I read it out of curiosity."

Liam nodded and tried to hide his excitement. It seemed to be a sensitive topic for the bunny but at the same time it was a golden opportunity for the hyena. In his head Liam was going through pros and cons of asking Matt about it. In a sense it wasn’t any weirder than things that the bunny was asking him about. If Liam was the bunny’s predator expert, Matt could be the hyena’s interspecies expert. 

"I'll let you touch my claws if you tell me what you know about interspecies relationships."

Matt's ears shot up and was taken aback by the offer. No one had ever expressed any interest in talking about it. The bunny furrowed his brow. "Why do you want to know about that?"

"Oh so you can ask for a weird thing but I can't?" Liam grinned. 

"Of course you can.” Matt said quickly, afraid that he offended his friend. “I'm just curious." 

Liam sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "Me and the wolves suspect that Nadine and Ralph at least like each other. It's totally fine but we don't know what that means for them and how to approach the topic with them."

"Oh." Matt's eyes went wide. He remembered how close the wolf and tigress seemed during the board game night. It was sweet that their friends wanted to be supportive. "That sounds like a fair trade."

The bunny was a lot more confident, now. His nervousness disappeared as he approached the sitting Liam and extended his paw, waiting for Liam's own. In a second the hyena’s ears got hot and froze in his chair as he watched the small mammal in front of him in disbelief. 

"You want to talk about interspecies relationships while holding my paw?" The hyena gulped and shifted nervously in his chair.

The bunny furrowed his brow at first but then Liam saw a spark in his eyes. Matt's neutral expression was slowly but surely changing into a mischievous grin. "Yeah. We shouldn't waste time. It isn’t like anyone can see us."

The bunny was getting a small enjoyment from making Liam uncomfortable. It was a small payback for all the times that Liam did the same. It didn’t take a genius to see what the bunny was doing. The hyena sighed and extended his paw. The bunny took it and gently traced his finger over one of the black claws, letting the silence make it more awkward for the Liam

"Sadly there isn’t a lot of research about interspecies attraction." Matt looked at the hyena with a smile to make sure that he was okay. The bunny didn’t want to push it too far. "It’s a relatively new and complicated field of studies."

As much as the hyena was giving Matt a hard time for not having any predator friends, Liam was similar. He didn’t have any prey friends. Prey outnumbered predators so he interacted with them a lot but he had never been close with any of them. They were just coworkers, classmates or people that he passed on the street. It felt bizarre to have soft small paws of a prey holding his own. 

"It can't be that complicated if interspecies marriage is allowed." The hyena tried to sound confident and ignore how unusual the whole situation was. 

Matt sighed and stopped tracing Liam’s claw. The spark in bunny’s eyes dimed. "That’s exactly the problem. Only one type of marriage is legal."

Matt brought the paw closer to his muzzle to inspect it. The hyena’s claws were blunt and had been nicely trimmed. The orphanage still wasn’t able to get a predator to help with Kyle. Regular staff wasn’t willing to trim claws of the fox that was known as a scratcher. In general Liam’s claws were much wider and even without taking care of them, the bunny doubted that they would ever be as sharp as the fox’s. Without the risk of them piercing his skin the bunny felt a lot more comfortable and they had to admit that they were nice to the touch. 

“Being inter is like being gay. You can't help what you are attracted to. Most mammals are only attracted to their own species. In some cases they are also attracted to other species. In even rarer cases they’re only attracted to other species." Matt continued in a tone that strongly reminded hyena of his teachers.

"Shouldn't there be separate words for all those categories?" Liam furrowed his brow. 

"It would make things clearer, that’s for sure... but the fact that there aren't any shows how new this stuff is." Matt’s nose twitched. “For so long mammals were scared to admit who they love.”

Liam’s expression softened as bunny’s ears tilted, he couldn’t hide that it affected him. Matt didn’t know exactly how those mammals felt but could easily imagine. The bunny always seemed so confident about who he was. It was like a glimpse of how he really felt.

"On top of that there is another layer of complexity." Matt sighed. "It depends on what type of mammals you are attracted to. The first type is most common. You are attracted to mammals of different species that you can have kids with. So something like a relationship between a lion and a tiger. It's the only type of relationship that can legally get married. That justification is weird because it extends to gay marriage. The second type is between predators or prey who can't have kids together. So they fit in that category as a wolf and a tigress. The last type is between predator and prey."

The both looked at their paws at the same time. They couldn’t help as their ears got warm from the embarrassment. However, quickly another thought came to the front of the hyena’s mind.

"So politicians lie when they say that it’s legal!" Liam shouted in annoyance.

"They don't exactly lie, but they don't give the whole truth. To be fair it covers around 80 percent of interspecies relationships and they are so rare to begin with. That’s the main reason why talks about it got quiet after they got the right to marry.” Matt bit his lip. “Your friends probably already know that. They are police officers after all." 

It was troubling for the hyena that such great mammals would have problems if they decided to be together. They were tough mammals, but they shouldn’t need to be tough to express their love. While The hyena was deep in his thoughts, Matt absentmindedly turned Liam's paw so the palm was on top. The bunny moved on from the hyena’s claws and was exploring the rest of the predator's paw. His small paws gently massaging it with was very relaxing for the hyena. Matt gently pressed on the pad which made Liam jump in his seat. 

"What are you doing?" Matt quickly pulled his paws away. 

"Sorry. Bunnies don't have pads so I was a little curious." Matt lifted his paws up to show the smooth fur on the palms and laughed nervously. He didn’t give Liam time to respond before he continued. "Most of the research is focused on the first type of the relationship because it’s most common. It’s easiest to find volunteers for the study. It’s also more or less socially acceptable. Other types have a much tougher time."

The hyena rubbed the poked pad with his thumb and eyed the bunny. "Could that mean problems for them at work?"

"Well, you can't discriminate against it in the workplace... but that doesn't stop mammals from being dicks." Matt's ears dropped and he turned away from the hyena to look outside of the window. The bunny was reminiscing and it didn’t seem to be a pleasant memory. 

"So it's better to keep it quiet." The hyena said slowly as he studied Matt muzzle.

"Yeah. You should let them decide who they want to talk about it with. You could talk with them about that but I wouldn't talk about the two of them with just anyone. You could also try idly mentioning to them that you’re fine with that type of relationship so they would be more comfortable talking with you about it. Do you think that they’re dating or just interested in each other?" The bunny tried to sound casual but his ears were still down.

"It’s hard to tell for me. Ralph's brothers think that they’re dating. We'll probably try to get that information out of them the next time they come over." Liam smiled softly. "And how about an interspecies adoption?"

The bunny smiled warmly. It was hearthwarming that just thinking about the boy seemed to brighten his mood. "All types are legal but it’s more difficult when there are a lot of differences between species."

"So you could adopt Kyle."

"Yeah." Matt sighted, not really wanting to talk about it. "But it would be a long process."

Matt's ears shot up and swivelled toward the sound of a hoofed mammal running towards their office space. Running wasn’t common at the office. Most of the time it meant very good or very bad news. A few seconds later Emma came rushing from the hallway and she looked worried.

"Have you seen the press conference?" The ewe was panting, trying to catch her breath. 

"What conference?" Liam asked with confusion.

Without a word the ewe went to her desk. When the computer booted up she went to a news site. On the main page there was a picture of a bunny in police uniform with predators on screens behind her. Emma clicked on the clip and in silence they watched as ZPD officers explained how they found all the missing mammals. Liam wanted to cheer. Most predators in the city knew about it since the missing mammals were exclusively predators. However it all changed when he looked at Emma. She had a very intense look and was standing a few feets away from him. That was odd. Normally she didn’t have problems disregarding personal boundaries. Then he smelled it, that horrible scent. She was scared. He turned back towards the screen just in time to hear that predators could go savage, set to a number of pictures of crazy looking predators.

In an instant everything went quiet. The only thing that Liam could hear was his heart pounding. It was a good thing that the hyena was already sitting because the world started to spin. However at the center of his vision there was the screen with a paused clip, showing pictures of savage predators. That couldn’t be real. It had to be some sort of a sick joke from an anti-pred group. He had to call Ralph. He was a police officer, he would know better than anyone. 

Liam’s phone was in his pocket, he just needed to pull it out. He couldn’t. The hyena’s paw felt so heavy, he wasn’t able to move them. It was so stupid. He wasn’t a cub anymore. What they said shouldn’t affect him so much. The peace of mind was just one phone call away. The hyena just needed to make that call.

Matt went back to his computer and started typing with a very serious expression on his muzzle. Emma on the other paw seemed almost as frozen as the hyena was. She avoided his gaze and looked ashamed. That sight finally gave him enough of a push to get up. He went past the ewe who moved to the side to let him through. He hasetly went to the phone room to have some privacy. 

The hyena selected Ralph’s number and called. The line was busy. He should have expected that. His family was probably calling him. Liam sat down and waited for a message that the line was free. After 10 minutes of waiting he needed to get back to the work so he decided to send him and Nadine a text asking for clarification.

When he got back to his desk, the rest of his team had already arrived and they were all eyeing him nervously. Despite that, Emma seemed to calmed down a little after a pep talk from Matt. Owen also was doing rather well 

“Come on, just chill out. We don’t have all the information. We can’t just jump to conclusions.” Matt reaffirmed with a nervous smile.

Tom was the only one that didn’t nod and watched hyena’s every move. The bunny noticed. “Ok. Let's get to work while we wait for more information.“

The bunny tried his best to act casual as he sat at the desk next to Liam. The hyena’s eyes went wide. They had switched desks.

***

Working at a tech company was supposed to be his safe haven. If he was smart enough to get in, he was smart enough not to be in a gang. That kind of thinking meant that mammals weren't afraid of him at work. They just avoided him. Sadly it wasn’t the case anymore. Tension around the office was undeniable and Liam was the source of it. He was the only predator working at the company and most of the mammals were acting as if he was going to turn savage at any moment. Every inch of the office was filled with the scent of fear. 

The team was sitting at their regular table in the corner of the room during the lunch break. They had their lunches in front of them but no one was in the mood for eating. Owen and Emma were checking the internet for any updates. After the initial shock passed, they seemed to act normal around the hyena. Tom was a different story. The hare’s nose was twitching and he didn't dare to take his eyes off Liam for even one second.

The hare took the news the hardest out of the team. He made sure that there was always a desk or a table between him and the hyena. Tom’s ears were always pointed in Liam's direction. The predator couldn’t really blame him. The hare was a father and the his family’s breadwinner. If something would have happened to him, his family would be in trouble. Liam was an unknown problem and the best solution to that problem was assuming the worst. Tom was fidgeting in his chair and finally couldn't take it anymore. He pushed his chair away from the table and got up.

"I'll finish my work from home." Tom said with a shaky voice.

Liam looked away from the group. He had been expecting something like that. Maybe it was for the best. It was one less animal that he would have to worry about potentially hurting. The hyena didn't say a lot since they heard the news. Only checking his phone from time to time.   
  
Matt had to put his phone in vibration mode because of the amount of messages that he got from his worried family. Bunnyburrow didn't have a lot of predators so the bunny's family focused all their worries on one family member that lived in the city with predators. Matt's gaze traveled from Liam to Tom.

"I'm sure that it's some kind of misunderstanding. They'll clear everything up soon." Matt declared.

"That may be true but right now I want to be with my wife and kits. I can wait for more information there." Tom clenched his fist and his body was tense as looked at the hyena. "I'm sorry Liam."

The hyena's ears dropped. His eye's dulled for a second but he turned towards the hare and gave him a faint smile. "Don't worry. I get it. Just make sure that they’re safe."

The hare nodded and pulled out his phone. He left the dining area in a hurry and called his wife to inform her that he would be home soon. In a weird way it was heartwarming how afraid the hare was of him. He tried his best to make sure that he would come back to his family safely. Liam tried to see the love rather than the fear. 

Despite the room being occupied by only their team, the scent of fear still lingered in the air. Matt eye's found Liam's for the first time in an hour. The hyena's head hung low. Liam wasn’t sure how the bunny could be so optimistic. Matt tried his best to make everyone feel comfortable.

"They'll clear it all up soon." The bunny’s voice cracked but sounded hopeful. As if he tried to convince himself.

"It’s been hours and ZPD hasn’t said a word." Owen said while furiously typing on his phone.

"Mayor's office asked mammals not to panic but didn't say anything about the conference." Emma chimed in.

Liam put his paw on the table and gently moved his claws across it. The hyena almost shamefully looked away from Matt and focused on his claws skipping on imperfections in the wood. It was getting less likely that ZPD was going to retract the statements from the conference

"Nadine said that all those pictures shown during the press conference were real but can't tell me more than that. It's an ongoing investigation." Liam said defeated. He still didn’t know what that meant for him and other predators in Zootopia.

Liam felt a small paw on top of his and stopped scratching the table. He didn’t notice when the bunny sat next to him. It was the first time that someone was sitting next to him during lunch. The reason for their weird sitting arrangement was to let Liam eat without showing his teeth. It was clear that no one was going to eat.

"How are you holding up?" The bunny's ears dropped and looked at the hyena with a soft encouraging smile. Liam looked at the soft paw resting on his. It was a very sweet gesture from Matt. The hyena sighed softly and rubbed the back of his head. 

"Honestly, I don't know. What the bunny officer said is really scary but we don't have enough information yet.” The gentle touch reminded Liam of their morning exercise and tilted his head to the side as he looked at the bunny. “I’m surprised how well you're holding up considering your problem with predators."

Matt smiled and waved his paw. "I have an irrational fear. I freak out when I don't have time to think. I know that you won't hurt me."

Emma looked away from her phone. "I didn't know that you’re afraid of predators?"

"I found out a few weeks ago.” The bunny's ears got pinker. “Goes to show how little I’ve interacted with predators."

"Yeah, your hometown is mostly prey and it was the same for our university." The sheep narrowed her eyes. "You’ve been keeping too many secrets from me, lately."

"It's your own fault since you decided to act as a spy for my mother." The bunny laughed.

"We just play muzzlebook games together and it just happens that she asks about you from time to time." She teased back.

"I'm convinced that she sends you more pies than me."

"If you are taking payment for the information then that makes you a spy." The gopher laughed.

"Am not!" Emma shouted while overacting offense. 

Liam on the other paw was frozen. He didn't hear the friendly banter. He couldn't believe that Matt smelled normal. Since the morning wherever the hyena went, the scent of fear followed him. It was almost overwhelming. Liam could deal with a few mammals being scared of him. It was a part of being a hyena. But this situation was just overwhelming. Even though the rest of the team were acting friendly, he could still smell their fear.

But it was different with Matt. The bunny was clearly nervous, but he wasn't afraid. He looked in amazement at the small mammal. It was like a breath of fresh air after drowning in fear for so many hours. The hyena leaned towards the bunny to get his nose closer. Liam took a deep breath and let Matt's scent cover all of the fear that he was smelling. Liam closed his eyes as his body relaxed for the first time since he heard the news. 

The room was peacefully quiet, too quiet. The hyena opened his eyes to see the ewe and the gopher stared at him with wide eyes. Matt's ears were up and red. 

"What are you doing?" Emma asked nervously and looked ready to run at any moment.

"I'm sorry." Liam pulled his paw from under the bunny's paw and straightened in his chair. "I wasn't thinking and started sniffing around. It was inappropriate."

The shade of red inside Liam's ears matched Matt's. The hyena awkwardly looked away. Matt had seen Kyle sniffing around but wasn’t really sure what that meant. There were still so many things that he didn't know about predators.

"Don't worry about it. I'm glad it lifted your mood." Matt smiled softly. 

"Just next time try to act normal so we would know that you aren’t going crazy." Owen said as he went back to his phone and froze. His eyes went over the text a few times. The gopher swallowed loudly before he read the title of the article out loud. “A savage bear attacked a deer.” 


	12. The distance between you and me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to Pilgrim for being an amazing editor and to ARK for being a great beta reader. <3

The whole city was going crazy. Matt was flipping between channels, every station talking about the ZPD's press conference and the attack that had taken place that afternoon. Some commentators asked citizens to remain calm, but an overwhelming number of stations talked about how scary the situation was. Prey animals talking to prey animals. Finally the bunny had enough, and put on a documentary about the climate control walls in Zootopia.

The bunny rested his back against the couch, not really listening to the TV. His eyes went to his phone which was frequently vibrating and flashing. His family was worried about him and the news about the attack made them even more nervous. He had to regularly send messages that he was alive and well. 

His paws went to rub his eyes in practiced motion, but instead he painfully pressed the frame of his glasses into his muzzle.

His pent-up frustration came to peak, and he shouted, "Fuck!"

The whole day he tried to keep it together and play it off as a nothing more than a simple misunderstanding. He was wrong. Something bad was happening and they didn't know what. It was much scarier than he could have imagined. Luckily it didn’t affect him that much. He lived in a mostly prey neighborhood and traveled to work via car. Before Liam was hired he could have spent months without interacting with a predator. How things had changed.

There was a thin blurry shape in the bunny’s field of view. It had been so long since he saw something like that. It made him feel nostalgic as he took off his glasses. Matt looked at the hair that rested on one of the lenses. He smiled weakly and pulled out a piece of cloth from his pocket to clean them. 

It was relaxing. Old familiar movements brought some comfort in such confusing times. His glasses made him stand out when he wanted to fit in. It was the main reason he switched to contact lenses. It was a childish reason, but it made him feel better about himself. He was an adult and no one really cared about it anymore. In college it felt like a grand gesture. However, he always had his glasses on when he was visiting his family. The bunny looked fondly at them. So far away from Bunnyburrow, his glasses felt like a piece of home.

So many bad memories were associated with them. The way kids laughed at him when he was young and how difficult it made dating. At the same time he had so many pleasant ones too. The day he went with his dad to pick them up and going for ice cream right after... How nice his mother said he looked in them... Cleaning the mist off of them after coming back from playing in the snow when his mother called him in for a hot chocolate… How cute Kyle looked in them and the expression of wonder on his muzzle as he saw the warped world. The fox’s curious mind was exploring a new thing.

Matt blinked and his paws froze on the lenses. He looked at the dark frames that had been locked away in his glove compartment for months. The thing that brought him comfort in those uncertain times was back in his life thanks to a small fox. 

Thinking about that took Matt by surprise. It warmed his heart in the same way as all the other memories, but it felt out of place. His first instinct was to say that it was because Kyle was a fox, but he couldn't say that for sure. It was a newer memory... Maybe that was the reason. The answer turned out to be much simpler. Memories of his family made him feel safe, whereas memories of Kyle made him proud.

He wondered how the young fox was dealing with the information about predators. Did he even know about it? Matt picked up his phone and looked at the locked screen. He shouldn't impose on Monica. It was already evening and she was probably at home with her family. He could wait until tomorrow to call her.

His mind flashed him an image of Liam's muzzle after he heard about the attack. The way color drained out of his muzzle was haunting Then, the hyena was quiet for the rest of the day, deep in thought. Matt tried to cheer him up but couldn’t find the right words. He just let hyena process the new information.

He found Monica's number and stared at it. They were friends, but they weren't that close. Was it ok for him to call her about work related topics when she was at home? It seemed rude. The longer he stared at the number the more he wanted to know how Kyle was doing. He couldn't bring himself to call her... but a text seemed all right. 

_ Hi. I’m wondering how Kyle is doing. Did he hear the news? _

It was casual enough and with it being a text she could answer it whenever she wanted. He put the phone down and went back to watching the TV. The subject of the documentary was interesting but he was finding himself glancing more at the phone than the TV. 

As the time passed he started to wonder if she had seen it. Maybe he should send another text so her phone would ping again. The bunny shook his head. She was probably enjoying the evening with her family and he was just being paranoid. 

Matt jumped in his seat as his phone started vibrating. It had been doing so the whole day, but this time was different. It wasn't a short vibration of a massage. Someone was calling him. The bunny furrowed his brow as he saw Monica's name. He picked up the phone and answered it. 

"Hello Monica. How are you?" Matt tried to act casual but clearly wasn't expecting the call. He didn't want to be too eager about getting the information about Kyle.

"Hi." She said quietly and paused. Her breath was uneven and nervous. Matt could swear that he heard her biting her lip.

Matt clenched his phone and the frame dug into his palms. "Is everything all right?"

"No. I… " Another pause and a sigh came from the other side of the call. "Kyle didn't take the news well. We can't get him to calm down and we have been trying for a few hours."

The temperature in the room seemed to drop a few degrees. The blood drained from Matt’s fingers, making them uncomfortably cold. The bunny got almost painfully aware of the phone pressing the fame of glasses against his head. 

"Oh." He should have said more. He wanted to say more but his words were escaping him. He had so many questions that picking just one was an impossible task.

"We’re running out of ideas what to do with him." Monica's voice shook. "Could… could you come and talk with him."

"What?" His brain was still processing the last information so a coherent answer was beyond him.

"I know it’s too much to ask. It isn’t your job." She said quickly as if she was afraid that Matt was going to hang up at any moment. "He likes you and trusts you. Maybe you’ll be able get to him."

Almost instinctively Matt stood and looked around the room for his wallet and keys. He grabbed them, turned off the TV and was on his way out of the apartment with the phone still pressed against the side of his head.

"Hello Matt. Are you there?" The bunny blinked and stopped.

"Yeah, sorry. I’ll be there soon." He hung up the phone and put it in his pocket. 

He knew the route to the orphanage very well. He had traveled there many times but it was the first time that he was going there so late. Spring evening sun was warming his fur but the bunny felt cold. His heart was pounding as he tried his best to get there quickly and safely.

***

When he arrived, the bunny sprinted towards the orphanage. The first thing that he heard was a high pitched scream coming from somewhere down the hallway where Kyle’s room was. It was more similar to an exotic bird than a mammal. It wasn't a sound that bunny could make. He spotted two teachers as he was making his way towards the fox’s room.

"We should let him be. He’ll eventually get tired and just fall asleep." She said rather casually.

"He’s scaring kits and he'll get sick if he doesn't eat anything. How would you like to take care of a sick fox when he can go savage at any moment?" The second teacher said, worriedly.

"That would be problematic." She sighed and furrowed her brow when she saw him.

Matt stared at them with clenched fists. He opened his mouth to say something when another scream interrupted him. There were more important things than them. His head quickly turned in the direction of the sound and Matt resumed his waking. 

In the distance he saw a familiar white bunny standing in front of open doors to Kyle's room. Her ears were down and she kept her paws on top of each other on her chests. She slightly turned her head when she heard someone approaching. Enough to see Matt. She walked towards him away from the open doors.

"Thank gods." Monica said relieved.

"How is he?" Matt was tense and looked over her shoulder toward the door.

"Really bad. He saw the press conference during breakfast. I don't know whose brilliant idea it was to interrupt children's cartoons with breaking news. All the kits saw it." She bit her lip. "He ran away to his room and he's been in there ever since. He screams when someone tries to enter. He already missed dinner and supper. I’m afraid that he’s gonna have a panic attack if someone tried to get him. I thought maybe you could calm him down."

Monica looked tired. It was way outside of her working hours. The look on her muzzle was very similar to one that his mother had when he or his siblings were sick. Kyle was a fox but also he was one of the kits in her care. 

With determination, Matt said, "I’ll see what I can do."

He quickly pulled out his phone and made sure that he looked good. He was taken aback when the bunny on the screen looked fearless yet anxious at the same time.. He hadn't even realized his ears had dropped. He pointed them up, but tried to keep them relaxed to seem casual. 

He put on his best smile when he approached the door. There was an untouched tray of food next to the door. The bunny pushed it aside and peeked in the room. The light was on, but there was no sign of the fox anywhere. The bunny knocked on the frame of the door.

"Kyle, it's Matt. Can I come in?"

"No." Came from under the bed. The fox's voice sounded so weak and hoarse. 

Matt laid down on the floor of the hallway to take a look at the boy. When the bunny saw the fox his ears twitched. He unconsciously wanted to drop them, but did his best to keep them up. Similarly, his nose twitched the same way before he was able to calm down. 

Kyle was in the corner of the room under the bed. He looked so small and weak. His icy blue eyes were red and swollen and the fur on his muzzle was wet. He had been crying for hours. His ears were barely able to stay up and his eyes were half closed. He was clearly exhausted, and he appeared to be nodding off. When he saw Matt in the doorway, however, his eyes opened up like saucers.

Matt casually said, "Hello," as his heart was breaking. The boy didn't say anything and just stared at the bunny.

"Could you come out from under the bed so we can have a chat?" The fox shook his head in response.

"How about me coming closer?"

The boy's eyes went wide and pushed his paws against the floor as if he wanted to go deeper into the corner. "You can't!"

"Why?" The bunny rested his head on his paws and spoke calmly. The fox looked away and bit his lip. 

"Kyle. You’ve promised to talk to me. I’m still learning about foxes so I don't know what is wrong. I want to help you.”

The fox looked Matt deep in the eyes. The boy's body shivered and eyes filled with tears. The boy was so hurt that it took every shred of Matt's willpower to stay where he was. He needed to get Kyle to talk. If they could talk they could make this better. 

“Kyle, please.” Matt smiled softly with confidence. He needed Kyle to believe that he was safe with him.

"I don't wanna eat anyone!" The fox said between the sobs and wrapped his tail around himself.

"What are you talking about?" Matt's nose twitched.

The dam broke, and all emotions that he had been holding back came rushing out of the fox. "The… the bunny on the TV said that predators go savage. Savage predators eat prey."

Matt tried to process what he heard. That thought was so alien to him that he wasn’t sure how to react. His first instinct was to tell the boy that it wasn’t going to happen. As soon as he opened his mouth, the dark part of his mind, the part that was afraid of predators started flashing old memories of various mammals around Bunnyburrow telling him that foxes eat bunnies. It was so sudden that it made Matt pause. That was stupid - mammals don’t eat eachother! But at the same time none of  _ them _ went savage.

"Kyle you won’t go savage." The bunny said with a weak voice. Kyle didn’t notice and wasn’t listening. 

"She said that something inside makes them savage and I'm- and l'm closer to savage than anyone else." Tears were streaming down Kyle's face. 

"You won’t go savage. None of the affected animals had your condition. You’re probably safe." Matt's voice was shaking, desperate to calm the boy down.

"I’m feral and I’ll be savage!" The fox was almost screaming. "I don't want to eat anyone!"

"You won't go savage!" Matt's nose was twitching and ears dropped. "All the predators were adults. So maybe it only affects adults."

"I don't want to eat you." At that point the boy stopped listening and was just sobbing uncontrollably. 

Matt’s fingers seemed to be several degrees colder than the rest of his body. His whole vision focused on the spot under Kyle’s bed where the fox was. The world outside of the boy’s room didn’t exist. In addition to the boy’s crying, Matt could hear his own breath getting uneven and his heart racing in his chest. He needed to do something. He needed to get to Kyle. He was hurting and he was right there in front of him.

The bunny’s muscles were getting ready to run towards the boy. Without thinking Matt stood up and as soon as his paw passed the door frame Kyle started screaming. With his head so high he couldn’t see what was happening under the bed but it filled Matt with dread. That snapped the bunny out of his chain of thought. He quickly took a step back breaking quickly. He shouldn’t have gone in the first place.

"Kyle calm down, it's fine. I want to help you." He could see why Monica was so worried about approaching Kyle. That ungodly scream showed how scared the boy was. 

The fox stopped crying but it was so sudden that it was even more unsettling. Matt dropped to the floor again. Kyle's eyes were wide as he was pushing his body into the corner trying to get away even when he couldn’t. 

"I’ll stay outside of your room. I promise." Matt stumbled over his words. 

The way that Kyle looked back at him sent shivers down the bunny's spine. Matt swallowed nervously. Kyle didn't believe him. The boy watched every move that the bunny was making as if it was potential danger. The same way that he looked at the bunny when he scratched him. 

"Kyle. I'm so sorry. I won't do that again." The bunny said with desperation in his voice. Kyle said nothing and his breathing was quick and shallow. 

Matt was in way over his head. He didn’t know what to do and just destroyed all the trust that he had built with the fox. Matt needed help and he needed it now. He stood up and walked away from the door. He knew only one person who could help. He picked up his phone and pressed on Liam's number. 

"What happened?" The white bunny stood nearby with a worried look. Few other teachers were looking at the scene from afar. 

"I… I fucked up." Matt said with tears in his eyes and pressed the phone to his ear. "Pick up, pick up..."

The bunny’s heart stopped for a second. The hyena's phone was off. Matt looked at the phone in shock. Maybe he was just out of service. The bunny called again. The same result. Third time, nothing. The bunny’s breath quickened and was clenching the phone.

"What can we do?" Monica asked.

"I don't know." Matt was staring at the phone. He needed Liam's help. The bunny wrote a quick massage asking Liam to call him back as soon as he could. 

"If we don't calm him down, I'm gonna have to call it in. We would have to sedate him and take him to the hospital." Monica ran her paw over her ears. "It would be a traumatic experience for him and I want to avoid it at all costs."

Matt was lost in his mind. The bunny knew nothing about what the boy was going through. Kyle was a predator. The bunny didn't have the boy's condition. He was just a stranger that took an interest in an orphan. What was he doing toying with the boy’s emotions. He was just kidding himself thinking that he could help Kyle. Matt leaned forward and rested his head against the wall. His vision was blurry from the tears that had built up. As he tried to wipe them away, his fingers went between his muzzle and glasses, slightly pushing them away. Gravity did the rest and glasses fell to the ground. 

Matt stared at them for a while. With an unfocused vision he looked in the direction of the room which belonged to the boy for whom he was wearing glasses. He didn't understand what the boy was going through but he had changed the boy’s life and the fox changed his. 

Matt knelt down to pick the glasses. Monica came closer. "We can try to get him to eat something. We have water in a bottle and some candy bars. Something that we can give to him. Maybe he’ll take them from you. Keep an eye on him. I’ll be right back."

Matt could only manage a nod as the white bunny went towards the kitchen. In a weird way, he was jealous of how good she was at her job. He had a good connection with kits but she knew what they needed. Something like that comes with an experience that he didn’t have. Would he ever be like that? She had been taking care of the whole orphanage when he could manage Kyle for an hour each week. Maybe he wasn’t fit to be a dad.   
  
The bunny felt a sting of pain in his heart. He knew that it wasn’t true, but the dark side of his mind kept whispering that to him. He had been babysitting a lot for Tom and helped his parents with his siblings. In high stress situations mammals start to doubt a lot of things. Matt would be great with his bunny kits. He bit his lip. He was just unfit to be Kyle’s dad. Another sting of pain. That was all right. He knew that. It was just tough to experience it the hard way. He had never planned to be his parent anyway. Matt just wanted to make the fox’s life better. 

Matt slowly came back to Kyle's door and laid down. Somehow that revelation helped him. His deep sadness overwhelmed his panic allowing him to think a little bit clearer than the last time. The boy that he cared about was scared and alone in that room. Kyle was only a few feet away but it felt like such a great distance. The distance between a predator and a prey.

"Again, I’m sorry." Matt smiled softly. "I’ll just lay here and keep you company. We don't need to talk."

Kyle was tense and his eyes were fixed on Matt. It was the same situation but he could see more this time around. There were fresh claw marks on the floor next to the fox from pushing his body into the corner in panic. The white fur on his muzzle was grey from the dust that cling to the wet fur. The sound of Kyle’s breath getting more even. It took the boy a moment to notice the change. The fox’s expression turned from scared to confused when the once scared rabbit came back looking calm but very sad.

Monica was rushing back, imagining the worst possible scenarios that could happen while she was away. She was taken aback when she saw Matt with a melancholic expression laying on the floor, looking a lot calmer. She slowly got closer and peaked inside the room only to see confused but calm Kyle. They should use that opportunity. She laid the water and a candy bar next to the bunny. Matt looked at her and nodded softly. 

"I want to give you some water and some candy. Is that okay?" The fox’s eyes went wide. Kyle gulped and licked his lips, his mind only now noticing that he hadn’t eaten the whole day. He didn't want anyone to get closer but he was still hungry. He nodded eagerly but still observed their every move. 

Matt smiled and gently tossed them to the boy. Kyle grabbed them and in seconds he was devouring them. It wasn't the healthiest meal but Matt was just glad that Kyle was eating anything. Monica gently tapped him with her foot to get his attention. She motioned towards the light switch and Matt nodded.

"We’re going to switch off the lights." Matt looked at the boy who just nodded, more absorbed in his food. 

Matt showed her thumbs up and the white bunny turned off the lights. All light in the room was coming from the hallway. In the dark Kyle's eyes shined. That made it easier to see how tired the boy was. The shape of the shine was cut on the top where his eyelids covered it.

Monica went to dim the light on the hallway. Matt pulled out his phone and started checking out the internet. The bunny and the fox shared a surprisingly comfortable silence. Every few seconds Matt glanced at Kyle. The fox had trouble keeping the sleep away. That moment of break in the panic allowed his body to remind him how tired he was. In about half an hour Matt could no longer see the shiny pupils under the bed. The bunny used his phone as a flashlight. Kyle was sleeping in the corner under the bed. 

Matt got up and slowly closed the door. Monica sighed in relief and smiled at him. "Thank you."

Matt looked away ashamed, "I wasn’t able to do anything. He didn’t let me in. He was still alone and scared in his room" Matt let his worries finally show. 

“You’re wrong." She shook her head. “You are the only mammal that he talked to. With us, it was just screaming. He felt comfortable enough with you to eat something and fall asleep." 

"I’m not sure if it counts as a win." Matt took a deep breath

"Oh it is. Just not as big as you hoped for." She looked at the door. "Let's hope that he’ll feel better tomorrow."

Matt looked at the time. "Yeah. We both should get home."

Monica nodded. “I’m sorry for dragging you into this but I’m glad you came." 

"It isn’t a problem. I wanted to help." Matt sighed. "The whole savage situation is too much for everyone."

"Yeah… In school they don't teach you how to deal with a kit that’s afraid to go savage."

Matt turned back to look one last time at Kyle’s door. It was better but the situation still wasn’t fixed. “When he wakes up tell him that I’ll visit him. I’m not sure when but I’ll find some time for him tomorrow.”

***

Matt groaned as he finally got out of bed. He could arrive at work whenever he wanted but still preferred to do it in the morning. It was unusual for him to decide to keep sleeping after the alarm. It was just half an hour but he really needed it. 

Last night was rough. He kept tossing and turning, unable to sleep. He couldn't get the look on Kyle's face out of his mind. Matt really made a mistake. He couldn’t imagine what was going through the boy's head, but one thing was certain. He was hurting and the bunny was unable to stop it. He liked the fox, but they were so different from each other. He felt so powerless.

He groaned again when he saw himself in a mirror. His face long with bags under his eyes. Matt was so annoyed by the sight that he brushed his teeth with his glasses resting on the sink. The bunny skipped breakfast. The sinking feeling in his stomach wouldn't let him take even one bite. 

Getting to work was a chore. Everyone on the road irritated him. Even though it was only half an hour later, the difference in traffic was horrendous. It was ‘stop and go’ nearly the whole way. It was a good thing his office building was in the same district where he lived. Mammals who had to travel to another one had it much rougher.

On days like that the bunny wished that he enjoyed coffee. He needed a boost to his energy. He would have to manage with a cola from the vending machine. Going up the stairs, his legs felt like lead. As Matt was getting closer to their section, he heard a raised female voice. 

"They can't do that!" Matt quickened his walking to see what was happening. Liam was standing with a computer screen in his arms. In front of the hyena there was very angry rabbit

Liam's eyes were half closed and had bags under his eyes. He was hunching over and looked very timid. The hyena sighed. "It is fine Sarah."

"No, it isn’t. I can't believe that they would do something like that. I thought that this was a good company!" The grey bunny was furious.

Liam smiled weakly more for her benefit than his. "I’ll manage. Don't worry."

Chill went down Matt's spine. Did they fire Liam? They couldn't do that based on incomplete information. However, that was yesterday. It was hard to tell what mammals thought was acceptable after the attack. Matt in an instant woke up and rushed towards his friend.

"What is going on here?" Matt looked at the hyena with a worried expression.

Liam opened his mouth to say something but Sarah rudely interrupted him before he had a chance to say anything. "They’re forcing him to work in a phone room so there would be a door between him and the rest of the mammals. They couldn't even spare an office for him!"

"I told you, it isn’t like that." Liam was getting more annoyed with every second. 

Matt was so relieved that his friend was’t getting fired. The bunny twitched his nose in surprise. There was a strong scent of the mint in the area.

"You shouldn’t let a speciest company do that. You should sue them. It isn’t how a respected company should treat their predator employees." The female bunny was pacing and tossed her arms in the air. "The boss should be fired and…"

"I asked for it!" Liam shouted angrily which made Sarah drop her ears and take a few steps back.

To her credit she quickly noticed what she did and fixed her ears, acting as if it had never happened. "Because you were afraid that they would fire you if you didn't do that."

Liam sighed and rubbed his paw over his forehead. "Can't you just leave me alone? You’re interrupting my work."

Sarah furrowed her brow confused. Then she got angry again and gave Matt a sour look. She looked back at Liam and nodded. "Of course. I only hope that your team leader knows what a valued member of his team you are."

Matt clenched his fist and looked at the female bunny in disbelief and she continued. "I’ll let you get back to work. I hope to see you at the protest."

"What?" The hyena blinked and the monitor seemed to be getting lower in his arms.

"An anti-pred group is protesting today in Sahara Square. So pred supporters are doing their own protest in response."

"It’s only been a day. How could they organize so quickly?" Liam asked, stunned.

"Oh mammals like that have just been waiting for a reason to do it. Luckily there are also mammals like me to help you!" she was beaming with pride, "I’ll let you go back to work so no one would have any reason to complain about you."

She gave Matt a dirty look as she moved past him, leaving the two males stunned. Liam was the first one to regain his wits and groaned in frustration.

"I’m sorry for that." The hyena rubbed the back of his head. "She is a handful."

"You don't have to apologize for that. She has a problem, not you."

"Yeah but it happened because of me." Liam adjusted the monitor in his arms, "I’ll put it in the phone room. This thing is getting heavy."

Matt bit his lip. "You don't have to."

The hyena hunched even more and seemed to be getting smaller as they were speaking. It was such a pitiful sight. "Please, not you too. I can take it from her but I’m not sure if I have it in me to take it from you."

Matt dropped his ears in powerless frustration. "Can I at least know why?”

Liam was silent. He had every right not to answer the bunny. It was clearly a very sensitive subject and they didn’t know each other that well. As Matt stepped closer Liam stepped back. “Please stay a few feet away.”

Matt froze. It was happening again. This time it was Liam, not Kyle. As a prey mammal it wasn’t his business. It wasn’t supposed to be his problem but mammals that he cared about were hurting. The bunny’s voice shook. “Yesterday, they called me from the orphanage. Kyle had a panic attack and didn't let anyone get in his room. He was screaming every time someone set foot in his room."

The bunny rubbed his chest. "I couldn't do anything to help him. He only fell asleep because he was exhausted from crying. I don't understand what’s happening. I want to help him. I want to help  _ you _ . I just don't know how."

The bunny's nose was twitching. Liam stared at the bunny and lowered his head. He didn’t want to have that conversation. He wouldn’t have that conversation with a prey animal if he could help it. However, Kyle was involved. Alone at the orphanage surrounded by prey without a predator to talk too. The hyena put the monitor back on his desk. He wasn't going anywhere and that thing was heavy. He sat down. From his pocket he pulled out a packet of mints and took one. 

"What do you think he’s the most afraid of right now?" Liam asked in a slow, tired voice. He was looking away from the bunny.

"That he’ll go savage?" Matt was very unsure of that answer. It seemed obvious but the hyena wouldn't ask an obvious question.

"It’s a part of it but I’m pretty sure that it isn’t it." Liam gently scratched his desk. "Did he say that he is afraid of going savage.?"

"Well kind of." Matt nodded slightly.. "He kept saying that he didn't want to eat anyone."

There was a loud scratching noise. Deep grooves were left on the desk by Liam's claws. "Fuck. I’ll have to fix that."

Matt looked at the mark left at the desk. He had never seen a predator clawing something. Of course he had seen marks like that around the city and in Bunnyburrow but they were more like a decoration. It was hard to imagine that an actual animal could do that without any tools.    
  
The bunny shook his head. It wasn’t important. He looked back at Liam who was avoiding his gaze. "But that is crazy. He won’t go savage and won’t eat anyone."

"How do you know that?" The hyena said with a similar annoyed tone that he used with Sarah. "Would you be willing to bet the lives of your friends and family on that? Would you risk killing your friends to prove a point?"

"They try to make it a speciest issue but it isn’t. It’s a safety issue." Liam wrapped his arms around himself for comfort. "I visited my parents yesterday. They… They decided to sleep in separate rooms until we’ll have more information. My mom isn't afraid that my dad would turn savage. She’s afraid that  _ she _ would turn and hurt  _ him _ ."

Liam's head hung low. "At my apartment we decided that all doors will be closed at all times. In case someone turns they would be stuck in a room. I thought that I should do the same at work. I’m much bigger than everyone. It’s just safer that way."

The bunny looked tenderly at the hyena. Liam and Kyle were afraid of hurting someone so they were hurting themselves. "But you can't be alone in that. Isolation isn’t healthy when you’re dealing with fear."

"It isn’t that bad,“ Liam shrugged, ”It is fine when I know that I won't be able to hurt anyone if I go crazy. So big groups of predators are fine. It’s much more uncomfortable when you’re one on one with someone."

"You seem fine being alone with me."

"I’m not," The hyena looked at the bunny for the first time and saw the worry in the hyena's eyes. "But I know that I left the doors to the phone room open so you would be able to hide there."

Matt blinked. Liam really considered the bunny’s safety first when he decided to talk with him. He was such a good mammal. It was so unfair what’s happening to him. What’s happening to all predators. 

"So what can I do to make you and Kyle feel better?" The bunny was determined to help them. 

Liam lifted his head and smiled softly, happy that he knew at least one answer in this chaotic time. Matt didn’t realize how much he missed that simile. It had been a long day yesterday for both of them. "That's easy. Most kits aren’t scared because they know that adults would stop them if they would go crazy. Kyle doesn't have that comfort because he’s surrounded by bunnies. You just need to convince him that you can take him down if anything was gonna happen to him."

Matt ears dropped. Kyle was a kit but he was the size of an older teenage bunny. With his size, claws and teeth he could really take on a few adults before they would be able to stop him. He felt hopeless. “That’s impossible. I would have trouble doing that with a bunny his size and Kyle is a predator on top of that.”

“Yeah, that would be a problem...” Liam said slowly and looked at his backpack. He was thinking about something. Finally hyena reached for it, pulled out a taser and put it on the desk. "You should buy your own before they’ll be out of stock. You can borrow mine until yours arrives."

"Are you crazy?" Matt shouted, "I won’t use that on a kit!"

"I’m not telling you to use it on him." Liam groaned frustrated. "You just need to be prepared for taking him down. At the very least, he needs to believe that you’re prepared."

Matt looked at the taser. The bunny didn’t like how much sense it was making. The device looked old. It had a lot of scratches. It was also a little too big for the bunny. "Where did you get it?"

"My sister bought it for me when I went to college." The hyena shrugged and said casually. Liam saw the confusion on the bunny's face. "What? There are some crazy ladies out there. I need to be able to defend myself if one of them gets pushy."

Was that a predator thing or a hyena thing? Matt was puzzled, but had enough wit to not ask about predator relationships. It was a topic for another day.

"Ok. I’ll try it. Thank you," Matt reached for the device but Liam pulled it away.

"I’ll let you borrow it under one condition," He looked very serious, "You need to order one right now and show me that you did it."

The hyena was right. The taser in front of him was too big and he didn’t know when they would know what was going on. From the amount of scratch marks, it seemed that Liam had been carrying it around a lot and probably didn’t want to part with it for too long. With a few taps on his phone, he ordered one bunny size taser with an additional battery pack and showed it to Liam, "Are you happy now?"

"Very,” Liam smiled and nodded. ”I must say. You are one crazy rabbit to be so comfortable with a predator around."

Liam let go of the taser. Matt needed two paws to use it comfortably, but it would have to do for the time being.

"I’m just comfortable around my friend," He smiled, "Also I’m pretty sure that you won’t go savage on me."

The hyena was touched but he wasn’t sure about if bunny had any right to think that. "How do you know that?"

Matt put the device in his bag and checked the time. He opened his laptop and quickly typed an email before closing it. At the corner of his eye Liam saw an email from Matt in his inbox titled ‘Work from home’.

Matt put the laptop back in the bag. "It isn’t rabies because we dealt with that centuries ago. If it mutated, we would know about it right away. Besides, bacteria and viruses are the easiest things to find. There would be a quarantine. It can't be just genetic because statistically it doesn't match. It wouldn't start happening at the same time. So I suspect some chemical. It is hard to find in the body afterwards if you don't know what you are looking for. Probably some company added something to a food or drink and it has an effect on predators. So I would say that you should be fine if you stick to fresh produce."

Liam blinked and for the first time he sat straight in his chair. What the bunny said sounded reasonable. "You can't be sure of that."

"I’m sure enough to be comfortable around you. Not really around strangers," Matt shrugged. “If anyone asks I’ll work from home today. I’ll start later but it shouldn’t be a problem. I’ll visit Kyle before getting home. Thank you for your help.”

Before Liam could answer Matt was already on his way out of the office with a new found energy. Liam watched the bunny live and smiled softly. 

"Thank you." The hyena said quietly to Matt, who was out of earshot. Liam picked up his monitor once again with new energy of his own.


	13. A shock to the system

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks once again to WillyPilgrim for being an amazing editor and to ARK for being a beta reader.

Matt had been turning a lot of heads walking around the orphanage trying to find Monica. Mammals didn’t even try to hide that they were staring at him. It was mostly because he should be at work and bunnies were talking about what had happened last night. There’s nothing faster than gossip in a bunny community. Some even joked that it was part of their culture.

The white rabbit wasn't in her office. Sadly, that meant that she could be anywhere on the orphanage grounds. She was a busy lady. Mammals working there weren't much help. Monica had a habit of moving around a lot to check that everything was in order. They could only point to the general area of the orphanage where they saw her last. 

Matt was nervously turning his head to check every corner. Normally, he would just go to Kyle's room but he wasn't sure what the fox’s condition was. He _could_ roll the dice and hope that the boy was in a good mood, however it was too important to gamble. He had made a mistake yesterday, and saw how it affected Kyle. Yesterday’s disaster was caused by a lack of planning and the bunny didn’t want to make that same mistake . Matt also needed Monica’s help for what he had in mind.

The orphanage was an interesting building. Because so many kits lived there, the orphanage also had its own dedicated school. It was much easier to bring school to the children than to bring the children to the school. And after all, lagomorpha kits didn’t stay at the orphanage for too long, so it would be an additional burden on schools to deal with a changing number of bunny kits. It was also much easier for kits to stay in one environment during the transition to their new home. 

It had been the first time that Matt was at the orphanage while the kits were in class. The building was eerily quiet compared to what he was used to. Noise is one of those things that bunnies were quick to get accustomed to... especially with a large family. As he moved through the building, he glanced inside the classrooms. It put a smile on his face to see those young minds focused on tasks ahead of them and learning. Matt’s mind wandered for a second, imagining Kyle in a classroom with all those kits.

It put in perspective just how much Monica had to worry about while running the orphanage. On the one paw, the orphanage specializing in lagomorpha specifically made it a little easier. On the other paw, they had a lot more kits than regular orphanages and employed a lot more mammals. 

He heard a familiar voice as he moved past the dining area. It was Monica. When he poked his head inside she was talking with the kitchen staff checking the list of produce that had arrived. Her head lifted from the list when she heard steps approaching. 

“Matt?” Her brow furrowed. “Shouldn’t you be at work right now?”

Her ears were up and shoulder were relaxed, which Matt took as a good sign. 

“One day late to work won’t kill me,” He waved his hand dismissively. “More importantly, how is Kyle?”

Every ear in the room turned towards them almost at the same time. They kept working but there was a weird mix of curiosity and tension. One of the cooks mouthed something to another who almost immediately shushed him. Monica remained calm but her ears swiveled around towards every sound. She was staring at Matt and bit his lip before she looked at the list in her paws.  
  
“You can finish it without me,” She turned around and handed the list to an older bunny lady with a nice simile. “Bring it back to my office when you're finished.”

The older lady nodded before giving Matt a curious look. “Of course. Good luck with the fox.”

Monica stood still for a moment. All eyes of the kitchen staff were on them. There was almost palpable nervousness and uncertainty in the air. Matt's eyes met Monica’s. She had an apologetic look on her muzzle before saying. “Thank you.” 

The white bunny turned around and motioned for Matt to follow him out of the dinner area towards the empty hallway which led to Kyle’s room. Matt looked back and gulped. Were they scared by the news or was it a regular thing for them? He wasn’t sure if he wanted to know the answer.

Monica walked in front of him and looked ahead. “Kyle calmed down a little. He even ate what we left him but he still refuses to leave his room and screams when someone wants to come in. He skipped his classes.”

When it was just two of them alone her ears dropped and she softly clenched her fist. She was avoiding his gaze displaying a weird combination of shame and worry. She had been working in the orphanage for a long time, but wasn’t able to help the boy. Matt exhaled with a smile. He needed that reminder that some mammals care about Kyle. 

“I might have an idea. I have talked with my predator friend and he suggested something that might work.” Matt said with a tempered excitement and underlying worry about Kyle was ever present. 

Monica stopped so sudden that he ended up crashing into her back but she ignored it and spun around and looked at Matt. “Really? That would be amazing.”

Matt clenched his paw on the taser in his bag, bringing it to Monica's attention. She looked down furrowed her brow, not sure what she was looking at. Slowly realization dawned on her muzzle. She looked shocked but her voice remained calm. “Why did you bring a taser with you?”

“To help Kyle.” Matt saw the cogs spinning in her head, jumping to a wrong conclusion. “I need you to use it on me.”

It stopped the tidal wave of anger that was approaching so suddenly that Monica was lost for a second. “Excuse me?”

“He’s scared that he’ll hurt someone if he would go savage.” Matt felt how dry his mouth was. “We need to prove to him that we’ll be safe if that happens.” 

“And you want to do that by getting shocked?” Monica blinked in disbelief.

“Yeah. I’m not sure if he knows what the taser is. After yesterday’s mistake, I don’t think that he’ll just believe me.” He lifted the taser up. “So we need to show him how it works.”

“I’m not sure about this.” She bit her lip. “Are you sure that it’s safe?”

Matt put on his best smile. “Of course it’s safe, otherwise it would be banned. Please, we need to at least _try_.”

Monica looked at Matt. How far was he willing to go for the fox kit? She had never experienced being tased but she was sure that it was going to be painful. The device was also rather big, so it could have higher than regular voltage. She couldn’t just shock him. It was supposed to be safe for healthy mammals but he could have an undiagnosed heart condition or any other illness that would make it dangerous to use a taser on him. 

She looked deep into Matt’s eyes to find some sign that he was going crazy. She didn’t find it. And to top it off, there wasn't any hint of hesitation. Only of urgency. He was really serious about it. However his plan didn’t feel right.

“So your brilliant idea is to convince Kyle that we can hurt him.” She wanted to make sure that she understood him correctly. It sounded even worse when she said it outloud. She heard a lot of horror stories about kits being rescued from homes like that. It went against every instinct she had. 

Matt's ears dropped and he swallowed. His eyes dimmed for a second. “Sadly, yes. I just hope that he won’t see it that way. We just want to let him know that we’ll be ok. That it’s safe to be around him. I’m scared to think what is going through his mind at this point. I can’t even pretend that I know what it’s like to be in his situation.”

Matt took a deep breath. “But I know someone who can understand Kyle and I trust what he told me.”

With shaky paws he motioned for her to take the taser from him. She didn’t move a muscle so Matt gave her a weak simile and added in a joking tone, “You said yourself. Predator and prey psychology are different fields of study.”

“You say that, but we can also easily traumatize him. Getting tased isn’t as great as you think it is.” She said with a worried muzzle.

He couldn’t really deny it. All the clips that he saw of it weren’t pretty. Some mammals were able to be somewhat graceful if they knew what was coming. “You’re right. Can we go somewhere where we can try it before doing it in front of Kyle?”

“You want me to tase you not once, but twice. Are you listening to yourself? You can get hurt!”

“It’s the only idea that I have. It _has_ to work.” He said with desperation in his voice. “Unless you have any predator psychologists that you can call for a second opinion, I want to do it.”

Monica had called for a psychologist but they were already overworked dealing with predator kits at their orphanages and no one was willing to spare her even a few seconds. Most of the time, she could only reach a receptionist. 

Matt at least had some idea what he was doing. She wasn’t sure what he did last night, but he got the boy to eat and sleep. Something that she was unable to do even after years of running an orphanage. In her defense, she never had to deal with a predator in such a delicate situation. 

Should she put her faith in him? She had done so twice already and he hadn’t disappointed her so far. Her white paw grabbed the scratched taser and took it from him. “Kits have classes so we’ll have to use one of the play rooms.”

Matt nodded eagerly and followed Monica. The sleepiness from the morning was almost completely gone. The bunny felt energized when they found the first play room. Monica quickly closed the doors behind them. She held the taser with two paws and pressed the button as a test. Sparks went flying between two prongs and loud crackling noise filled the room. She swallowed loudly and her ears fell down. “Are you really sure that you want me to do this?”

Matt was shaking his paws and was jumping in place as if he was warming up, trying not to think what was coming next. He finally stopped and let his arms hang loosely. He took a deep breath and nodded. “Yes.” 

With shaky paws, she pressed the taser to Matt’s fur and pressed the button. In an instant, his muscles locked, which made his body unable to move. They way his muscles pulled at his body felt as though they were going to outright break.

A painful heat was radiating from the point on his arm where the taser was pressed against him. The bunny felt himself losing the balance but couldn’t do anything about it. With his body locked he could only watch as he began to approach the floor.

Suddenly, the pain stopped. He had leaned away from the taser to the point where it lost contact with his body. He didn’t feel locked, now, just numb and sluggish. He had to force himself to move his arms in front of him to brace for the impact, but he was too late and too slow. He was only able to turn his face to the side so he wouldn’t smash it against the floor.

He crashed down with a loud thud. His glasses came off and landed a few feet away. Monica dropped the taser and in an instant was on the floor next to him. “Are you all right?”

She didn’t touch him and just gave him time to respond. She didn’t want to cause more damage if he was hurting. Matt was breathing heavily, and his head was pounding from the pain of hitting the floor. His vision was out of focus and head was spinning. It was a lot more painful than he expected. He groaned. “Yes.”

“I knew that it was a stupid idea.” She said worried and helped Matt to sit up. 

“It’s a stupid idea but we’re still going to do it.” Matt's body was trembling and the arm where he was hit was over-sensitive. He almost could _feel_ every hair in his arm, or at least it seemed that way. He squinted looking around.

“No, we aren’t. You’re gonna scare Kyle. I don’t see how you thought it was going to help. And you can get seriously hurt. We were lucky this time. This thing isn’t a toy.” She waved the taser around while scolding him like one of her kits. But Matt didn’t react at all.

“You were right and I’m glad that we tested it before going to Kyle.” The boy wouldn’t take that sight lightly. Matt moved his paw on the ground towards his glasses. “Next time we’ll do it safer.”

“There won’t be a next time!”

Matt grabbed his glasses and put them on. “Monica, it’ll be fine. Next time I’ll just crouch and put my arms over my head so I’ll just roll over when you’ll shock me. It’ll be safe.”

The brown bunny rubbed his arm. It was so tender and it was almost hard to believe that he was touching his own body. It was like one of those times when he’d slept on his arm and woke up unable to feel it. 

“Matt,” She said softly. He wasn’t reckless, but at the same time she couldn’t say that he was thinking clearly. “This is the wrong way of going about this.”

“It is the only way that I can come up with and I want to use this opportunity. If we adjust the plan then I’m sure we can make it work. Please.”

Matt looked at her with big, hopeful, disarming eyes. It would be easier if he just told her what he wanted to do and she could say no. She could easily shut down a bad idea. Instead, he was asking for permission and was inviting her to help figure out the problem together. He wasn’t fighting her. Matt was trying to get her to give in and try to help Kyle - however unorthodox their strategy might be. 

He was the only bunny that she knew who was willing to help Kyle rather than just dealing with the problem that the scared boy posed. It was such a small but important difference. There was no ill intention behind his eyes, only a worry that she wouldn’t agree and he wouldn’t be able to help the fox. She sighed and rubbed her paw on her forehead.

“You’ll take off your glasses.”

“Deal.” Matt jumped up from the floor. 

It was eerily similar to one of those situations when her kids were able to convince her to do something. She was undecided if what they were going to do was good or bad. Matt was already waiting for her at the door, eager to go to his boy. Monica blinked. The thought sneaked up on her without noticing. She shook her head. It happened from time to time when she saw mammals working at the orphanage who had a really good connection with a particular kit. After so many years, she knew that it was just her mind playing tricks on her. She stood up and they headed up towards Kyle’s room. 

It wasn’t a long walk and Matt eagerly knocked on the door. “Kyle? It’s me, Matt. I’m going to open the door. I want to show you something.”

The bunny waited and when he didn’t hear any protest, he proceeded. The first thing that he noticed was an overwhelming scent coming from the room. It was musky and unclean. With wide eyes he looked at Monica who didn’t react at all. Her nose twitched but other than that she stayed composed. 

After the initial hit of the scent, the bunny noticed that it smelled like Kyle... just much more intense. Speaking of the boy, he was nowhere to be seen. While staying in the hallway he dropped on the floor to look under the bed. There he was, hunkered in his corner. He looked miserable but the bunny found small comfort in the fact that the boy’s fur was dry.

“Hi, buddy. I brought something that can help us with your problem and I want to show it.” Matt smiled warmly. “But I need you to poke your head out from under the bed so you can see it.”

He saw the hesitation in the boy's eyes. Matt didn’t pressure him, just laid on the floor with a smile waiting for the boy to be comfortable. Kyle’s eyes moved from the bunny to the floor in front of him, his tail wrapped tightly around him.  
  
“Please. It’s something I want to show you just once. You need to see all of it or it won’t work. I worked very hard to convince Missus Monica to help me and it would be a waste to not use her help after all that.”

Kyle liked his corner under the bed. It was dark and out of the reach of most mammals working in the orphanage. It was the only place where he felt truly safe. That was true until yesterday. Everything felt scary, even his corner. No one was safe. He wasn’t safe to be around. Everyone is going to leave him or get hurt. There were no other options. So why was _he_ coming back? 

The fox looked at the weird bunny laying on the floor. Kyle still wasn’t sure what the bunny wanted from him. He seemed nice but mostly smelled like fear. Matt was the first mammal that visited him regularly, which confused the boy even more. Kyle was used to being alone. It hurt, but it was familiar. What the bunny was doing was uncharted territory. They had tried a lot of new things together and they were fun. Should he try another thing that the bunny suggested? He didn’t want to move, but in a world where his corner didn’t provide any safety a few feet away from it would be as good as the corner. The fox was curious, and finally poked his head out from under the bed. 

Matt’s muzzle lit up and he moved into a sitting position. He wanted the best for Kyle but in the end it was his choice if he was going to accept it. The bunny couldn’t waste that opportunity.

“Do you see the black device that Missus Monica is holding?” He pointed at the female rabbit. “It’s called a taser. It stops mammals from hurting others. It works in a weird way.”  
  
Kyle tilted his head to the side as he looked at the new thing. The box didn’t look that threatening. It was old and could be broken.

“Did you know that the brain in your head sends signals to your limbs and tells them how to move? Well the taser, in a way, shouts louder than your brain so your body doesn’t know how to move and it stops you.” Matt said as he took off his glasses and rested them against the door frame. 

“Missus Monica agreed to use it on me to show you how it works.” Matt moved to a crouching position and put his paws on top of his head so his arms would be in front of his muzzle. “Don’t worry. I’ll be fine. It might look a little scary, so I want you to be ready for that. Can you do that for me?”

Kyle shifted his gaze from the taser to Matt. The bunny tried his best to have a confident and reassuring smile but he already knew how painful it was going to be. Some of that worry showed on his muzzle.

The fox studied Matt’s muzzle. He could tell that the bunny was worried but for some reason, it felt like a good kind of worry. It was like a wordless promise that everything is going to be all right if they got through this bad thing together. It was exactly the same promise that so many mammals in his life had made before. None of them were true. They just wanted to make him feel better... but in the end he was disappointed and hurt. He stopped believing them a long time ago, but this bunny was different. In spite of all his previous experiences he wanted to believe Matt.

Kyle nodded softly. Matt smiled weakly and looked at Monica giving her a small nod of his own. Matt’s breathing quickened as he felt metal prongs against his shoulder and did everything in his willpower not to pull away. Then there was a loud clicking noise and groan of pain coming from the bunny.

Kyle jumped up from the surprise, enough that his back hit the bed frame. Matt was doing his best to keep his muzzle neutral but a grimace of pain was very clear on it. The electric burn ran through his body but in that position he was a lot more stable. Monica just kept pressing the taser against him.   
  
Finally one muscle twitch caused him to lose his balance and he rolled to the side away from the device. He landed on his side breathing heavily. His first instinct was just to lay there and rest after a painful experience, moving was such a chore at that point. Kyle made a worried squeak which made the bunny look at the confused boy. It reminded him what he was doing.   
  
Matt wasn’t able to hold in his groan as he lifted his body up, slowly moving back into a sitting position and said with a weak voice. “You see, it’s able to stop me so it shouldn’t have any problem with you.”   
  
Kyle stared in awe at the bunny not really sure what to do. The fox knew that something had changed but couldn’t tell what it was.

“It’s safe for you to be around other mammals. We can handle it.” Matt weakly reached for his glasses and put them one. 

The bunny’s breath was still uneven as he used the door frame to get up. He grabbed the taser from Monica who gave it back without any resistance as she was mostly focused on the boy. She didn’t know if they did the right thing. Matt’s legs were a little shaky but he smiled. “So, can I come in?”

Kyle looked at the object in bunny’s paws and the state that Matt was in. The fox was breathing faster as tears started to come to his eyes. He wasn’t fine, far from it but the bunny kept his unspoken promise. With a hoarse voice Kyle just said. “Yes.”

A smile dawned on Matt’s muzzle and he walked in. The bunny should have waited after being shocked but _nothing_ was going to stop him from entering that room. Even if his legs felt like they were made from lead and his balance was off. Matt’s paw lingered at the door frame for as long as it could, for the support. 

Kyle watched that weird bunny trying his best to get to him. He enjoyed his company but it was always just that, nothing more. The boy didn’t notice when his body started moving. With a blurry vision from the tears he ran on all fours towards Matt.   
  
The bunny saw the boy fast approaching and it distracted him for long enough to lose his balance. He fell on his knees and knew that he would feel it tomorrow but it didn’t matter. He opened his arms just before Kyle hugged him. 

Matt wrapped his arms around the boy and held him tight. Kyle wasn’t fine and it was okay. Matt didn’t want him to be fine. The bunny wished for it but understood that it couldn’t happen. He just wanted Kyle to be safe while he was dealing with his problems. 

Matt’s paw ended up on Kyle’s head and he petted him. “I’m sure that we can convince Missus Monica to get something for adults to carry around so you could go outside. You shouldn’t be missing classes.” 

Matt took a breath and almost gagged but tried not to show it. The boy reeked. Kyle’s cleaning habits had a lot of room for improvement. He was skipping on showers a lot and the situation probably amplified that. Matt didn’t mind enduring that. It was a problem that they would have to deal with when the boy felt better.

Kyle hugged the bunny as tight as he could. It was something new, but he didn’t really think about it. The fox found a new place that felt as good as his corner and it was all that really mattered. Finally, his grip started to relax and Matt brought the taser closer for Kyle to inspect. 

“Unfortunately, I won’t be able to leave the taser at the orphanage. I borrowed it from my friend, but I’m sure they can figure something out for them to carry around.” Matt kept it in his paws but let Kyle touch it. “I already ordered a smaller one for me since I’ll have to give this one back.”

They stayed embraced for a few minutes. At some point Matt started gently rocking his body back and forth. Monica was watching them with a smile, not wanting to interrupt the moment.

  
Matt didn't want to move but he needed to. The bunny was sore all over, but at the same time it was the most comfortable position that he had been in for years. Finally he said with a soft sigh. “I’ll need to go back to work soon but I promise to stay longer on Monday, okay? I’ll also have my own taser by then. It’ll be easier to play with you when I won’t have to worry about this big thing.”

Kyle just nodded. He didn’t want the bunny to go but it was normal that mammals didn’t have a lot of time for him. The fox took a deep breath and smelled something weird. He turned his head to the side and rested it on the bunny’s chest as he sniffed the taser. He smelled another predator. Something that he hadn’t smelled in months. The boy wasn’t sure who that mammal was, but he smelled really nice.


End file.
